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ROLLO    IN    NAPLES, 


BY 


JACOB    ABBOTT. 


NEW  YORK: 

8HELDON  &  CO.,  677  BROADWAY^ 

AND  214  &  216  MERCER  ST., 

Grand  Cbntkai  Hotel. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858,  by 

JACOB     ABBOTT," 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPT3R 

PAGE 

I.  —  The  Vetturino,    ..... 

13 

II.  —  Contracts  and  Agreements, 

37 

III.  —  The  Journey,         . 

57 

IV.  —  Situation  of  Naples,  .... 

76 

V.  —  Planning  the  Ascension,    . 

91 

VI.  —  Going  up,      ...... 

106 

VII.  —  The  Summit,          ..... 

131 

VIII.  —  Pompeii,         .....         o 

157 

IX.  —  The  Museum,        ..... 

174 

X.  —  The  Streets,         ..... 

188 

XI.  —  An  Excursion, 

194 

XII.  —  The  Orange  Gardens, 

!■!■! ' 

213 

ENGRAVINGS, 


The  Orange  Garden,  (Frontispiece.) 

A  Church  at  Florence,     . 

Reading  the  Articles, 

Emblems  on  the  Cross, 

Ascending  the  Mountains, 

Situation  op  Naples, 

View  through  the  Glass, 

Calash  coming  into  Naples, 

The  Ascent, 

View  op  the  Crater, 

Coming  down, 

The  Mosaic, 

The  Public  Gardens, 


23 

55 

63 

67 

77 

87 

111 

127 

137 

153 

183 

197 


PRINCIPAL   PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY. 

Rollo  ;  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  Rollo's  father  and  mother,  travel- 
ling in  Europe. 
Thanny  ;  Rollo's  younger  brother. 

Jane;  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George;  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  uncle. 


EOLLO  IN  NAPLES. 

Chapter   I. 
The   Vetturino. 

Mode  of  travelling  in  Italy.  Tho  vetturino. 

IF  ever  you  make  a  journey  into  Italy,  there  is 
one  thing  that  you  will  like  very  much  indeed  ; 
and  that  is  the  mode  of  travelling  that  prevails 
in  that  country.  There  are  very  few  railroads 
there ;  and  though  there  are  stage  coaches  on  all 
the  principal  routes,  comparatively  few  people, 
except  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  travel  in 
them.  Almost  all  who  come  from  foreign  lands 
to  make  journeys  in  Italy  for  pleasure,  take  what 
is  called  a  vetturino. 

There  is  no  English  word  for  vetturino,  because 
where  the  English  language  is  spoken,  there  is  no 
such  thing.  The  word  comes  from  the  Italian 
Word  vettura,  which  means  a  travelling  carriage, 
und  it  denotes  the  man  that  owns  the  carriage, 
and  drives  it  wherever  the  party  that  employs 
him  wishes  to  go.     Thus  there  is  somewhat  the. 

(13) 


14  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Meaning  of  the  word.  The  vettura.  Duties  of  the  vetturino. 

same  relation  between  the  Italian  words  vettura 
arid  vetturino  that  there  is  between  the  English 
words  chariot  and  charioteer. 

The  Italian  vetturino,  then,  in  the  simplest 
English  phrase  that  will  express  it,  is  a  travelling 
carriage  man  j  that  is,  he  is  a  man  who  keeps  a 
carriage  and  a  team  of  horses,  in  order  to  take 
parties  of  travellers  with  them  on  long  journeys, 
wherever  they  wish  to  go.  Our  word  coachman 
does  not  express  the  idea  at  all.  A  coachman  is 
a  man  employed  by  the  owner  of  a  carriage 
simply  to  drive  it ;  whereas  the  vetturino  is  the 
proprietor  of  his  establishment ;  and  though  he 
generally  drives  it  himself,  still  the  driving  is 
only  a  small  part  of  his  business.  He  might 
employ  another  man  to  go  with  him  and  drive, 
but  he  would  on  that  account  be  none  the  less  the 
vetturino. 

The  vetturino  usually  takes  the  entire  charge 
of  the  party,  and  provides  for  them  in  every 
respect, — that  is,  if  they  make  the  arrangement 
with  him  in  that  way,  which  they  generally  do, 
inasmuch  as,  since  they  do  not,  ordinarily,  know 
the  language  of  the  country,  it  is  much  more 
convenient  for  them  to  arrange  with  him  to  take 
care  of  them  than  to  attempt  to  take  care  of 
themselves.  Accordingly,  in  making  a  jour- 
ney of  several  days,  as,  for  example,  from  Ge- 


The  Yetturino.  15 

The  vetturino  takes  care  of  the  hotel  expenses.  Florence. 

noa  to  Florence,  from  Florence  to  Rome,  or 
from  Rome  to  Venice,  or  to  Naples,  the  vetturino 
determines  the  length  of  each  day's  journey ;  he 
chooses  the  hotels  where  to  stop,  both  at  noon 
and  for  the  night ;  he  attends  to  the  passports  in 
passing  the  frontiers,  and  also  to  the  examination 
of  the  baggage  at  the  custom  houses  ;  and  on 
arriving  at  the  hotels  he  orders  what  the  travel- 
lers require,  and  settles  the  bill  the  next  morning. 
For  all  this  the  travellers  pay  him  one  round 
sum,  which  includes  every  thing.  This  sum  con- 
sists of  a  certain  amount  for  the  carriage  and 
horses,  and  an  additional  amount  of  about  a  dol- 
lar and  a  half  or  a  dollar  and  three  quarters  a 
day,  as  agreed  upon  beforehand,  for  hotel  ex- 
penses on  the  way.  Thus,  by  this  mode  of  trav- 
elling, the  whole  care  is  taken  off  from  the 
traveller's  mind,  and  he  has  nothing  to  do  during 
the  daytime  but  to  sit  in  his  carriage  and  enjoy 
himself,  and  at  night  to  eat,  drink,  sleep,  and 
take  his  comfort  at  the  hotel. 

It  was  at  Florence  that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
first  commenced  to  travel  with  a  vetturino.  They 
canfe  to  Florence  by  steamer  and  railway  ;  that 
is,  by  steamer  to  Leghorn,  and  thence  across  the 
country  by  railway.  Florence  is  a  very  pretty 
place,  with  the  blue  and  beautiful  River  Arno 
running  through  the  middle  of  it,  and  ancient 


10  Hollo    is   Naples. 

Paintings  and  statuary  in  Florence.    How  the  people  warm  themselves. 

stone  bridges  leading  across  the  river  from  side 
to  side.  The  town  is  filled  with  magnificent 
churches  and  palaces,  built,  some  of  them,  a 
thousand  years  ago,  and  all  so  richly  adorned 
with  sculptures,  paintings,  bronzes,  and  mosaics, 
that  the  whole  world  flock  there  to  see  them. 
People  go  there  chiefly  in  the  \{pnter.  At  that 
season  the  town  is  crowded  with  strangers.  A 
great  many  people,  too,  go  there  in  the  winter  to 
avoid  the  cold  weather  which  prevails  at  that 
time  of  the  year,  in  all  the  more  northerly  coun- 
tries of  Europe. 

There  is  so  little  winter  in  Florence  that  few 
of  the  houses  have  any  fireplaces  in  them  except 
in  the  kitchen.  When  there  comes  a  cold  day, 
the  people  warm  themselves  by  means  of  a  jug  or 
jar  of  earthen  ware,  with  a  handle  passing  over 
across  the  top,  by  which  they  carry  it  about. 
They  fill  these  jars  half  full  of  hot  embers,  and 
so  carry  them  with  them  wherever  they  want  1o 
go.  The  women,  when  they  sit  down,  put  the 
jar  under  their  dresses  on  the  floor  or  pavement 
beneath  them,  and  the  men  place  it  right  before 
them  between  their  feet. 

You  will  see  market  women  and  flower  girls 
sitting  in  the  corners  of  the  streets  in  the  winter, 
attending  to  their  business,  and  keeping  them- 
selves warm  all  the  time  with  these  little  fire  jars ; 


The   Vetturino.  17 

Curious  mode  of  warming  a  bed. 

and  artists  in  the  palaces  and  picture  galleries, 
each  with  one  of  them  by  his  side,  or  close  be- 
fore him,  while  he  is  at  work  copying  the  works 
of  the  great  masters,  or  making  drawings  from 
the  antique  statues. 

There  is  another  very  curious  use  that  the 
people  of  Florence  make  of  these  jars  ;  and  that 
is  they  warm  the  beds  with  them  when  any  body 
is  sick,  so  as  to  require  this  indulgence.  You 
would  think  it  very  difficult  to  warm  a  bed  with 
an  open  jar  filled  with  burning  embers.  The 
way  they  do  it  is  this  :  they  hang  the  jar  in  the 
inside  of  a  sort  of  wooden  cage,  shaped  like  a 
bushel  basket,  and  about  as  large.  They  turn 
this  cage  upside  down,  and  hang  the  jar  up  in  it 
by  means  of  a  hook  depending  inside.  They 
turn  down  the  bed  clothes  and  put  the  cage  in 
it,  jar  of  coals  and  all.  They  then  put  back  the 
bed  clothes,  and  cover  the  cage  all  up.  They 
leave  it  so  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then, 
carefully  turning  the  clothes  down  again,  they 
take  the  jar  out,  and  the  bed  is  warmed. 

But  to  return  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo.  They 
engaged  a  vetturino  for  the  first  time  at  Florence. 
Mr.  George  had  gone  to  Florence  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  examining  the  immense  collections  of 
paintings  and  statuary  which  exist  there.  Rollo 
went,  not  on  account  of  the  paintings  or  stat- 
9 


18  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Reason  why  there  are  so  many  works  of  art  in  Italy. 

ues, —  for  he  did  not  care  much  about  such  things, 
—  but  because  he  liked  to  go  any  where  where  he 
could  see  new  places,  and  be  entertained  by  new 
scenes.  Accordingly,  while  Mr.  George  was  at 
work  in  the  galleries  of  Florence,  studying,  by 
the  help  of  catalogues,  the  famous  specimens  of 
ancient  art,  Rollo  was  usually  rambling  about 
the  streets,  observing  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  people,  and  watching  the  singular  and  curi- 
ous scenes  that  every  where  met  his  eye. 

The  reason  why  there  are  so  many  paintings 
and  sculptures  in  Italy  is  this  :  in  the  middle 
ages,  it  was  the  fashion,  in  all  the  central  parts  of 
Europe,  for  the  people  to  spend  almost  all  their 
surplus  money  in  building  and  decorating  churches. 
Indeed,  there  was  then  very  little  else  that  they 
could  do.  At  the  present  time,  people  invest  their 
funds,  as  fast  as  they  accumulate  them,  in  building 
ships  and  railroads,  docks  for  the  storage  of  mer- 
chandise, houses  and  stores  in  cities,  to  let  for  the 
sake  of  the  rent,  and  country  seats,  or  pretty 
private  residences  of  various  kinds,  for  them- 
selves. But  in  the  middle  ages  very  little  could 
be  done  in  the  way  of  investments  like  these. 
There  were  no  railroads,  and  there  was  very 
little  use  for  ships.  There  was  no  profit  to  be 
gained  by  building  houses  and  stores,  for  there 
were  so  many  wars  and  commotions  among  the 


The   Vetturino.  19 

Safety  of  property  in  the  churches.  The  crime  of  sacrilege. 

people  of  the  different  towns  and  kingdoms, 
that  nothing  was  stable  or  safe.  For  the  same 
reason  it  was  useless  for  men  to  spend  their 
money  in  building  and  ornamenting  their  own 
houses,  for  at  the  first  approach  of  an  enemy,  the 
town  in  which  they  lived  was  likely  to  be  sacked, 
and  their  houses,  and  all  the  fine  furniture  which 
they  might  contain,  would  be  burned  or  de- 
stroyed. 

But  the  churches  were  safe.  The  people  of  the 
different  countries  had  so  much  veneration  for 
sacred  places,  and  for  every  thing  connected  with 
religion,  that  they  were  afraid  to  touch  or  injure 
any  thing  that  had  been  consecrated  to  a  reli- 
gious use.  To  plunder  a  church,  or  a  convent,  or 
an  abbey,  or  to  do  any  thing  to  injure  or  destroy 
the  property  that  they  contained,  was  regarded 
as  sacrilege  ',  and  sacrilege  they  deemed  a  dread- 
ful crime,  abhorred  by  God  and  man.  Thus,  while 
they  would  burn  and  destroy  hundreds  of  dwell- 
ings without  any  remorse,  and  turn  the  wretched 
inmates  out  at  midnight  into  the  streets  to  die  of 
exposure,  terror,  and  despair,  they  would  stop  at 
once  when  they  came  to  the  church,  afraid  to  harm 
it  in  any  way,  or  to  touch  the  least  thing  that  it 
contained.  Accordingly,  while  every  thing  else 
in  a  conquered  town  was  doomed  to  the  most 
reckless  destruction,  all  that  was  in  the  church, 


20  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Immense  magnitude  and  costliness  of  the  churches. 

—  the  most  delicate  paintings,  and  the  most  cost- 
ly gold  and  silver  images  and  utensils  —  were  as 
safe  as  if  they  were  surrounded  by  impregna- 
ble castle  walls. 

Of  course  these  notions  were  very  mistaken 
ones.  According  to  the  teachings  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  it  must  be  a  greater  sin 
to  burn  down  the  cottage  of  a  poor  widow,  and 
turn  her  out  at  midnight  into  the  streets  to  die, 
than  to  plunder  for  gain  the  richest  altar  in  the 
world. 

From  these  and  various  other  similar  causes,  it 
happened  that,  in  the  middle  ages,  —  that  is,  from 
five  hundred  to  a  thousand  years  ago,  —  almost 
all  the  great  expenditures  of  money,  in  all  the 
great  cities  and  towns  of  Europe,  were  made  for 
churches.  Sometimes  these  churches  were  so 
large  that  they  were  several  hundred  years  in 
building.  One  generation  would  begin,  another 
would  continue,  and  a  third  would  finish  the 
work  ;  that  is,  provided  the  finishing  work  was 
ever  done.  Great  numbers  of  them  remain  un- 
finished to  the  present  day,  and  always  will  re- 
main so. 

It  is  generally,  however,  the  exterior  which  re- 
mains incomplete.  Within  they  are  magnificent 
beyond  description.  They  are  so  profusely 
adorned  with  altars,  chapels,  crucifixes,  paintings, 


The   Vetturino.  21 

The  interiors.  The  cathedra]  at  Florence.  The  dome. 

vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  with  sculptures 
and  monuments  of  every  kind,  that  on  entering 
them  one  is  quite  bewildered  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  scene. 

There  are  a  great  many  different  altars  where 
divine  service  may  be  performed,  some  arranged 
along  the  sides  of  the  church,  in  the  recesses  be- 
tween the  pillars,  and  others  in  the  transepts, 
and  in  various  little  chapels  opening  here  and 
there  from  the  transepts  and  the  aisles ;  and  so 
extensive  and  vast  is  the  interior  that  sometimes 
four  or  five  different  congregations  are  engaged 
in  worship  in  different  parts  of  the  church  at  the 
same  time,  without  at  all  disturbing  one  another. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  these  great 
churches  is  the  cathedral  at  Florence,  where  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  were  now  staying.  There  is  a 
representation  of  it  on  the  next  page,  which  will 
give  you  some  idea  of  its  form,  though  it  can  con- 
vey no  conception  of  its  immense  magnitude. 

The  dome  that  surmounts  the  centre  of  the 
building  is  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  was  a 
hundred  years  after  the  church  was  commenced 
before  the  dome  was  put  on.  The  dome  is  about 
a  hundred  and  forty  feet  wide  from  side  to  side, 
and  almost  as  high  as  it  is  wide.  It  is  more  than 
a  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high,  which  is  enough 
for  twelve  or  fifteen  stories  of  a  good-sized  house. 


22  Ro  llo   in   Naples. 

Some  account  of  the  building  of  the  dome. 

And  this  is  the  dome  alone.  The  whole  height 
of  the  church,  from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  the 
cross,  is  nearly  four  hundred  feet.  You  will  get 
a  better  idea  of  how  high  this  is,  if  you  ask  of 
your  father,  or  of  some  one  that  knows,  what  the 
height  is  of  some  tall  steeple  near  where  you  live. 

When  the  architect  who  conceived  the  idea  of 
finishing  the  church  by  putting  this  dome  upon  it 
first  proposed  it,  the  other  architects  of  the  town 
declared  that  it  could  not  be  done.  It  was  im- 
possible, they  said,  to  build  so  large  a  dome  on 
the  top  of  so  lofty  a  building.  But  he  insisted 
that  it  was  not  impossible.  He  could  not  only 
build  the  dome  at  that  height,  but  he  could 
first  build  an  octagonal  lantern,  he  said,  on 
the  top  of  the  church,  and  then  build  the  dome 
upon  that,  which  would  carry  the  dome  up  a 
great  deal  higher.  At  last  they  consented  to  let 
him  make  the  attempt  ;  and  he  succeeded.  You 
see  the  dome  in  the  engraving,  and  the  octagonal 
lantern  beneath  it.  on  which  it  rests.  The  lan- 
tern is  the  part  which  has  the  round  windows. 

You  see  to  the  left  of  the  church,  at  the  farther 
end,  a  tall,  square  tower.  This  is  the  bell  tower. 
There  are  six  bells  in  it.  It  was  designed  to 
have  a  spire  upon  it,  but  the  spire  has  not  yet 
been  built,  and  perhaps  it  never  will  be. 


The   Vetturino.  25 

The  bell  tower.  Statue  of  the  architect. 

This  bell  tower  alone  cost  an  enormous  sum  of 
money.  It  is  faced  on  every  side,  as  indeed  the 
church  itself  is,  with  different  colored  marbles, 
and  the  four  walls  of  it,  on  the  outside,  are  so  pro- 
fusely adorned  with  sculptures,  statues,  and  other 
costly  and  elaborate  architectural  decorations, 
that  it  would  take  a  week  to  examine  them  fully 
in  detail. 

The  part  of  the  church  which  is  presented  to 
view  in  the  engraving  is  the  end.  The  front 
proper  is  on  a  line  with  the  farther  side  of  the 
bell  tower.  The  engraving  does  not  show  us  the 
length  of  the  edifice  at  all,  except  so  far  as  we 
gain  an  idea  of  it  by  the  long  procession  which 
we  see  at  the  side.  As  I  have  already  said, 
the  length  is  more  than  five  hundred  feet,  which 
is  nearly  half  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

The  putting  on  of  the  dome  was  considered 
the  greatest  achievement  in  the  building  of  the 
church  ;  and  the  architect  who  planned  and  super- 
intended the  work  gained  for  himself  immortal 
honor.  After  his  death  a  statue  of  him  was 
made,  and  placed  in  a  niche  in  the  Avail  of  the 
houses  on  one  side  of  the  square,  opposite  the 
dome.  He  is  represented  as  sitting  in  a  chair, 
holding  a  plan  of  the  work  in  his  hand,  and  look- 
ing up  to  see  it  as  it  appeared  completed.     We 


20)  Rollo   in   Naples. 

How  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  spent  their  time  in  Florence. 


can  just  see  this  statue  in  the  foreground  of  the 
picture,  on  the  left. 

And  now  I  must  return  to  the  story. 

While  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  were  in  Flor- 
ence, Rollo  was  occupied  mainly,  as  I  have  al- 
ready said,  in  rambling  about  the  town,  and 
observing  the*  scenes  of  real  and  active  life,  which 
every  where  met  his  view  in  the  streets  and 
squares,  while  Mr.  George  spent  his  time  chief- 
ly in  the  churches,  and  in  the  galleries  of  paint- 
ing and  sculpture,  studying  the  works  of  art. 
One  morning  after  breakfast,  Mr.  George  was 
going  to  the  great  gallery  in  the  palace  of  the 
grand  duke,  to  spend  the  day  there.  Rollo  said 
that  he  would  walk  with  him  a  little  way.  So 
they  walked  together  along  the  street  which  led 
by  the  bank  of  the  river. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "how  much 
longer  is  it  going  to  take  for  you  to  study  these 
paintings  and  statues  till  you  are  satisfied?" 

"  Five  or  ten  years,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  0  uncle  George  !  "  exclaimed  Rollo  ;  "  I  have 
seen  as  much  of  them  as  /  want  to  see  al- 
ready." 

"  You  have  not  seen  one  of  them  yet,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  Not  seen  one  of  them  !  "  repeated  Rollo. 

"  No,  not  one  of  them,"  replied  Mr.  George.. 


The   Vetturino.  27 


Conversation  about  goin=r  to  Rome.  Three  ways. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  I'll  show  you  what  I  mean  some  time  or 
other,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  when  you  are  in  one 
of  the  galleries  with  me." 

"  I  should  like  to  have  you,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but 
now  I  really  want  to  know  when  you  are  going 
to  be  ready  to  go  on  towards  Naples.  I'd  rather 
see  Mount  Vesuvius  than  all  the  paintings  in  the 
world,  especially  if  there  is  a  good  blazing  erup- 
tion coining  out  of  it,  and  plenty  of  red-hot  stones." 

"  The  first  question  to  be  settled,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "is,  how  we  shall  go." 

"  Are  there  more  ways  than  one  ? "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  there  are  three  or 
four  ways.  We  are  here  at  Florence,  in  the  inte- 
rior of  the  country,  and  Rome  is  also  in  the  inte- 
rior ;  but  there  is  a  seaport  on  the  coast  for  each 
city.  So  we  can  go  from  here  to  Leghorn,  which 
is  the  seaport  for  Florence,  by  the  railroad,  and 
there  we  can  take  a  steamboat  and  go  to  Civita 
Vecchia,  which  is  the  seaport  for  Rome.  There 
we  can  land  and  go  up  to  Rome  in  some  sort  of  a 
carriage." 

"Hike  that  way,"  said  Rollo.  "I  like  that 
best  of  all.  There  are  a  railroad  and  a  steam- 
boat both  in  it." 


28  Rollo  in  Naples. 

The  malle  post.  Rollo  prefers  the  vetturino. 

"Another  way,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "is, 
we  can  go  by  the  malle  post."* 

"  I  should  like  to  go  by  the  malle  post,"  said 
Rollo  ;  "  they  keep  the  horses  on  the  gallop  al- 
most all  the  way." 

"  Then  again,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  if  we 
choose  we  can  engage  a  vetturino." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  ''  there  are  plenty  of  them 
always  standing  out  here  by  the  bridge.  They 
ask  me  almost  every  day,  when  I  go  by,  whether 
I  want  a  carriage.  '  Want  a  carriage,  sir/  they 
say,  '  to  go  to  Rome,  to  Naples,  to  Venice,  to 
Genoa?'" 

Here  Rollo  repeated  the  words  of  the  vetturini, 
imitating  the  peculiar  intonations  with  which 
they  spoke,  in  quite  a  skilful  manner :  "To 
Rome!    Naples!    Venice!  Nice!    Genoa!" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  those  are  the  men." 

"  And,  come  to  think  of  it,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  be- 
lieve, after  all,  I  would  rather  go  with  a  vetturi- 
no. We  ride  along  so  pleasantly  day  after  day, 
and  go  through  all  the  towns,  cracking  our  whip, 
and  seeing  so  many  curious  things  all  along  the 
road  side ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  there  is  one 

*  The  malle  post  is  a  sort  of  despatch  carriage,  that  takes  the 
mails.  It  can  take  also  two  or  three  passengers.  They  change 
horses  very  often  with  the  malle  post,  and  drive  very  fast. 


The   Vetturino.  29 

Further  conversation  on  the  subject. 

difficulty.  We  are  only  two,  and  the  carriages 
of  the  vetturini  are  usually  large  enough  for  four 
or  six." 

"And  would  not  they  go  for  two?"  asked 
Eollo. 

"  0,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  they  will  go  for 
two ;  but  then  the  men  must  have  full  price  for 
their  carriage  and  horses,  and  that  makes  it  very 
expensive,  for  two." 

"  What  do  people  do,  then,"  asked  Hollo, 
"  when  there  are  only  two  to  go  ?  " 

"  They  generally  find  some  other  people  that 
want  to  go,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  and  make  up 
a  party,  and  so  divide  the  expense." 

"  And  can't  we  do  that  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  We  do  not  know  any  body  here,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

Rollo  did  not  know  what  to  say  to  this,  and  so 
he  was  silent,  and  walked  along,  thinking  what 
it  was  best  to  do.  Presently,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  he  added,  — 

"  I  mean  to  ask  some  of  the  vetturinos  if  they 
have  not  got  a  carriage  for  two."   . 

"  Vetturini  is  the  plural  of  vetturino,  in  Ital- 
ian," said  Mr.  George,  "  and  not  vetturinos." 

"  But  I  am  not  speaking  Italian,"  said  Rollo  ; 
11 1  am  speaking  English." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George. 


30  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  bridge  across  the  Arno.  The  mosaic  shops. 

At  this  stage  of  the  conversation  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  arrived  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  across 
the  Arno,  which  Mr.  George  had  to  pass  over  in 
going  to  his  gallery.  This  bridge  is  a  very  an- 
cient one,  and  is  quite  a  curiosity,  as  it  is  built 
massively  of  stone,  and  is  lined  with  a  row  of 
shops  on  each  side,  so  that  in  passing  over  it  you 
would  think  it  was  a  street  instead  of  a  bridge, 
were  it  not  that  the  shops  are  so  small  that  you 
can  look  directly  through  them,  and  see  the  river 
through  the  windows  on  the  back  side. 

These  shops  are  occupied  by  jewellers,  who 
keep  for  sale  the  mosaic  pins,  bracelets,  and  ear- 
rings, for  which  Florence  is  so  famous,  and  great 
numbers  of  these  mosaics,  as  well  as  various  other 
kinds  of  jewelry,  are  exposed  to  view  in  little 
show  cases  that  are  arranged  in  a  curious  man- 
ner, on  small  counters  before  the  windows,  so  that 
any  one  can  see  them  all  in  passing  along. 

On  reaching  this  bridge,  Rollo  concluded  to 
stop,  and  look  at  the  mosaics,  and  so  his  uncle  left 
him  and  went  on  alone. 

As  Rollo  was  standing  at  one  of  the  little 
shop  windows  a  few  minutes  after  his  uncle  had 
left  him,  a  man  dressed  in  a  blue  frock,  and  with 
a  sort  of  woollen  comforter  of  bright  colors 
about  his  neck,  came  up  to  him,  and  asked  him  in 
French  whether  the  party  that  he  belonged  to 


The   Vetturino.  31 

Rollo  is  accosted  by  a  vetturino.  He  makes  an  appointment. 

did  not  want  a  carriage  to  go  to  Rome.  Rollo 
perceived  at  once  that  the  man  was  a  vetturino. 

"  I  don't  know  but  that  we  do,"  said  he. 
"  Have  you  got  a  carriage  ?  " 

"  Yes,"'  replied  the  vetturino  ;  "  I  have  got  a 
large  and  very  nice  carriage,  and  four  excellent 
horses." 

"  Then  it  won't  do,"  said  Rollo,  "  for  there  are 
only  two  in  our  party,  and  a  large  carriage  and 
four  horses  will  be  more  than  we  need." 

"  0,  but  that  will  make  no  difference,"  said  the 
vetturino.  "  You  see  I'm  a  return,  and  I  will 
take  you  about  as  cheap  as  you  can  go  in  a  small 
carriage." 

"  For  how  much  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  "Why,  my  price  is  three  napoleons  a  day,"  said 
the  vetturino,  "  for  a  full  party  ;  but  as  you  are 
only  two,  I  will  take  you  for  less.  Have  you  got 
a  great  deal  of  baggage  ?  " 

"  No  ;  very  little,"  said  Rollo. 

After  some  further  conversation  with  the  vet- 
turino, Rollo  concluded  to  make  an  appointment 
with  him  to  come  to  the  hotel  that  evening  and 
see  his  uncle  George. 

"  Come  immediately  after  dinner,"  said  Rollo. 

"  At  what  time  ?  "  asked  the  vetturino. 

"  Why,  we  dine  at  half  past  six,  said  Rollo, 
"  and  uncle  George  will  be  through  at  eight." 


32  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mr.  George  is  much  pleased.  He  has  found  a  party. 

"  Then  I  will  come  at  eight,"  said  the  vet- 
turino. 

One  reason  why  Rollo  concluded  to  make  this 
appointment  was,  that  he  particularly  liked  the 
vetturino's  appearance.  .  He  had  an  open  and  in- 
telligent countenance,  and  his  air  and  bearing 
were  such  as  to  give  Rollo  the  idea  that  he  was  a 
very  good-natured  and  sociable,  as  well  as  capa- 
ble man.  In  answer  to  a  question  from  Rollo,  he 
said  that  his  name  was  Vittorio. 

When  Mr.  George  came  home  that  evening,  a 
short  time  before  dinner,  Rollo  told  him  what  he 
had  done. 

"  Good!  "  said  Mr.  George.  "  We  are  in  luck. 
I  should  not  be  surprised  if  we  should  be  able 
to  fill  his  carriage  for  him.  I  have  found  a 
party." 

Mr.  George  further  stated  to  Rollo  that,  in 
rambling  through  the  rooms  of  the  gallery  where 
he  had  been  spending  the  day,  he  had  met  with  a 
lady  of  his  acquaintance  who  was  travelling  with 
two  children  and  a  maid,  and  that  he  had  been 
talking  with  her  about  forming  a  party  to  travel 
together  to  Naples. 

"  Are  the  children  girls  or  boys  ?  "asked  Rollo. 

11  One  of  them  is  a  girl  and  the  other  is  a  boy," 
said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  the  girl  is  sick." 

"  Is  she?"  asked  Rollo. 


The   Yetturino.  33 

Vittorio  comes.  Description  of  his  carriage.  The  coop. 

"  At  least  she  has  been  sick,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  She  has  had  a  fever,  but  now  she  is  slowly  get- 
ting well.     Her  name  is  Rosalie." 

"  I  think  that  is  rather  a  sentimental  name," 
said  Rollo. 

"  They  call  her  Rosie,  sometimes,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  That's  a  little  better,"  said  Rollo,  "  but  not 
much.     And  what  is  her  other  name  ?  " 

"  Gray,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"Vittorio  came  at  eight  o'clock  that  evening, 
according  to  appointment.  The  first  thing  that 
Mr.  George  did  was  to  propose  to  go  and  see  his 
carriage.  So  they  all  went  together  to  see  it. 
It  was  in  a  stable  near  by.  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo  were  both  well  pleased  with  the  carriage. 
It  had  four  seats  inside,  like  an  ordinary  coach. 
Besides  these  there  were  two  good  seats  outside, 
under  a  sort  of  canopy  which  came  forward  over 
them  like  a  chaise  top.  In  front  of  these,  and  a 
little  lower  down,  was  the  driver's  seat. 

The  inside  of  such  a  coach  is  called  the  interior.* 
The  place  outside,  under  the  chaise  top,  is  called 
the  coupe. f     Rollo  generally  called  it  the  coop. 

The  chaise  top  in  front  could  be  turned  back, 

*  In  French,  Vinterieur. 

f  Pronounced  coopay,  only  the  last  syllable  is  spoken  rather  short. 

3 


31  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Discussion  with  Vittorio  in  resjieet  to  the  terms  of  the  contract. 

so  as  to  throw  the  two  seats  there  entirely  open. 
In  the  same  manner  the  top  of  the  interior  could 
be  opened,  so  as  to  make  the  carriage  a  barouche. 

"  It  is  just  exactly  such  a  carriage  as  we  want,"' 
said  Rollo,  "  if  Mrs.  Gray  will  only  let  you  and 
me  have  the  coop." 

"  We'll  see  about  that,"  said  Mr.  George. 

Mr.  George  then  proceeded  to  discuss  with 
Yittorio  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  agree- 
ment which  should  be  made  between  them,  in 
case  the  party  should  conclude  to  hire  the  car- 
riage ;  and  after  ascertaining  precisely  what  they 
were,  he  told  Yittorio  that  he  would  decide  the 
next  morning,  and  he  appointed  ten  o'clock  as 
the  time  when  Yittorio  was  to  call  to  get  the 
decision.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  then  went  back 
to  the  hotel. 

"Why  did  not  you  engage  him  at  once?" 
asked  Rollo,  as  they  walked  along.  "  It  was 
such  a  good  carriage ! " 

"  Because  I  want  first  to  see  what  terms  and 
conditions  I  can  make  with  Mrs.  Gray,"  replied 
Mr.  George. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Rollo  ;  "  don't  you  think  she 
will  be  willing  to  pay  her  share  ?  " 

"  0,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  She  says  she  is 
willing  to  pay  the  whole,  if  I  will  only  let  her 
go  with  us." 


The  Vetturino.  35 

Mr.  George's  opinioD  of  travelling  parties. 

"  And  shall  you  let  her  pay  the  whole?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"  No,  indeed,"  replied  Mr.  George.  "  I  shall 
let  her  pay  her  share,  which  will  be  just  two 
thirds,  for  she  has  four  in  her  party,  and  we  are 
two." 

"  And  so  her  portion  will  be  four  sixths,"  said 
Rollo,  "  and  that  is  the  same  as  two  thirds." 

"  Exactly,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  So  then  it  is  all  settled,"  said  Rollo. 

"  About  the  money  it  is,"  replied  Mr.  George  ; 
"  but  that  was  not  what  I  referred  to.  When 
two  parties  form  a  plan  for  travelling  together 
in  the  same  carriage  for  many  days,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  a  very  precise  understanding  beforehand 
about  every  thing,  or  else  in  the  end  they  are 
very  sure  to  quarrel." 

"  To  quarrel !  "  repeated  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "and  generally  the 
more  intimate  their  friendship  for  each  other  is 
before  they  set  out,  the  more  sure  they  are  to 
quarrel  in  the  end." 

"  That's  curious,"  said  Rollo. 

"  They  begin  by  being  very  polite  to  each 
other,"  continued  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  by  and  by, 
a  thousand  questions  begin  to  come  up,  and  there 
is  nobody  to  decide  them.  For  a  time  each  one 
professes  a  great  readiness  to  yield  to  the  other ; 


36  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  way  to  avoid  disagreements  in  travelling  parties. 

but  before  long  each  begins  to  think  that  the 
other  assumes  too  much  of  the  direction.  Mrs. 
A.  thinks  that  Mrs.  B.  keeps  the  carriage  too 
much  shut  up,  or  that  she  always  manages  to  have 
the  best  seat ;  and  Mrs.  B.  thinks  that  Mrs.  A. 
takes  the  best  room  too  often  at  the  hotels  ;  or 
that  she  is  never  ready  at  the  proper  time  ;  or 
that  she  always  manages  to  have  what  she  likes 
at  the  hotels,  without  paying  enough  regard  to 
the  wishes  of  the  rest  of  the  party." 

"  Is  that  the  way  they  act  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "that  is  the  way  ex- 
actly. I  have  heard  the  secret  history  of  a  great 
many  travelling  parties  that  began  very  brightly, 
but  ended  in  heart-burnings,  miffs,  and  all  sorts 
of  troubles.  The  only  way  to  prevent  this  is  to 
have  a  very  definite  and  precise  understanding 
on  all  these  points  before  we  set  out.  And  that 
is  what  I  am  going  to  have  with  Mrs.  Gray." 

"  And  suppose  she  won't  come  to  any  agree- 
ment," said  Rollo.  "  She'll  say,  '  La,  it's  no 
matter.     We  shall  not  quarrel.'  " 

"  Then  I  won't  go  with  her,"  said  Mr.  George. 


Contracts  and   Agreements.     37 

The  three  heads  of  expenditure.  The  carriage  hire.         The  board. 


Chapter  II. 
Contracts  and  Agreements. 

In  arranging  for  a  journey  in  Italy  with  a 
vetturino,  there  are  three  separate  classes  of  ex- 
penditure to  be  provided  for.  First,  the  carriage 
and  horses  ;  secondly,  the  board  at  the  hotels 
by  the  way  ;  and  thirdly,  the  buono  manos. 

As  to  the  carriage  and  horses,  the  question,  in 
the  case  of  Mr.  George's  party,  was  soon  settled. 
Vittorio  said  that  his  regular  price  was  three 
napoleons  a  day  for  a  full  party.  This  is  about 
twelve  dollars,  and  includes  the  keeping  of  the 
horses,  and  all  the  tolls,  tariffs,  and  way  expenses 
of  every  kind.  Mr.  George  had  ascertained  that 
this  was  about  the  usual  price,  and  he  did  not  ask 
Vittorio  to  take  any  less. 

For  the  board  of  the  party  by  the  way,  Vitto- 
rio  said  that  they  could  themselves  call  for  what 
they  wanted  at  the  hotels,  and  pay  their  own 
bills,  or  he  would  provide  for  them  all  the  way, 
on  their  paying  him  a  certain  sum  per  day  for 
each  person.     This  last  is  the  usual  plan  adopted 


38  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Hotel  expenses  to  be  paid  by  the  vetturino. 

when  travelling  in  Italy,  for  the  hotel  keepers  are 
very  apt  to  charge  too  much  when  the  travellers 
call  for  and  pay  the  bills  themselves.  Whereas, 
when  the  vetturino  pays,  the  hotel  keepers  are 
much  more  reasonable.  They  are  aware  that  the 
vetturino  knows  what  the  charges  ought  to  be, 
and  they  are  afraid,  if  they  overcharge  him  for 
his  party,  that  then  he  will  take  his  next  party 
to  some  other  hotel. 

"  And  what  shall  you  give  us,"  asked  Mr. 
George,  in  talking  with  Vittorio  on  this  subject, 
"  if  you  provide  for  us?  " 

"  In  the  morning,"  replied  Yittorio,  "  before  we 
set  out,  there  will  be  coifee  or  tea,  and  bread  and 
butter,  with  eggs.  Then,  when  we  stop  at  noon, 
you  will  have  a  second  breakfast  of  mutton  chops, 
fried  potatoes,  fried  fish,  omelets,  and  other  such 
things.  Then,  at  night,  when  the  day's  journey 
is  done,  you  will  have  dinner." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  should 
think  that  that  might  do.  And  how  much  must 
we  pay  you  ?  " 

"  It  used  to  be  eight  francs  a  day,"  said  Vitto- 
rio ;  "  but  the  price  of  every  thing  is  raised,  and 
now  we  cannot  do  it  well  for  less  than  nine  francs. 
I  will  do  it  for  nine  francs  apiece  all  round." 

"  But  there  are  two  boys,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  Don't  you  charge  any  thing  extra  for  boys  ?  " 


Contracts  and  Agreements.  39 

The  buono  manos.  Explanation  of  the  custom. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Vittorio,  smiling.  He  thought 
at  first  that  Mr.  George  was  going  to  ask  for 
some  abatement  on  account  of  a  portion  of  the 
party  being  young.  "  No,  sir  ;  we  don't  charge 
any  thing  extra  for  them." 

"  You  would  charge  extra  for  them,  I  think," 
said  Mr.  George,  "  if  you  only  knew  how  much 
they  can  eat." 

Vittorio  smiled  and  said  that  if  the  part}r 
would  pay  nine  francs  apiece  all  round,  he  should 
be  satisfied,  without  asking  for  any  thing  extra  on 
account  of  the  boys. 

The  third  item  of  expense  in  an  Italian  journey 
consists  of  the  buono  manos.  In  Italy,  and  in- 
deed generally  in  Europe,  though  especially  in 
Italy,  nobody,  in  rendering  you  a  servicers  satis- 
fied with  receiving  merely  what  you  agreed  to 
pay  for  the  service.  Every  one  expects  some- 
thing over  at  the  end,  as  a  token  of  your  satis- 
faction with  him.  If  you  employ  a  guide  in  a 
town  to  show  you  about  to  the  places  and  things 
that  are  curious  there,  under  an  agreement  that 
he  is  to  have  a  dollar  a  day,  he  is  not  satisfied  at 
night  if  you  pay  him  merely  a  dollar.  He  ex- 
pects twenty  cents  or  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  over, 
as  a  buono  mano,  as  it  is  called.  This  is  the  un- 
derstanding on  which  the  bargain  is  made. 

In  the  same  manner,  when  you  pay  your  bill  at 


40  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Impatient  travellers.  Rollo  to  take  charge  of  the  buono  manes. 

the  hotel,  the  waiter  expects  you  to  give  him  a 
buono  memo.  If  any  body  renders  the  vetturino 
a  service  along  the  road,  it  is  the  vetturino  who 
pays  them,  because  it  is  in  the  agreement  that  he 
is  to  pay  the  way  expenses  ;  but  then,  after  get- 
ting their  pay  from  him,  and  also  his  buono  mano, 
they  generally  come  to  the  carriage  and  ask  for 
another  buono  mano  from  the  party  of  travellers. 
Some  travellers  get  vexed  and  out  of  patience 
with  this  system,  and  always  give,  if  they  give  at 
all,  with  scowling  looks  and  moody  mutterings. 
Others,  seeing  how  poor  all  the  people  are,  and 
how  hard  it  is  for  them  to  get  their  living,  are 
very  willing  to  pay,  especially  as  it  is  generally 
only  a  few  cents  in  each  case  that  is  required. 
Still,  unless  the  traveller  understands  the  system, 
and  prepares  himself  beforehand  with  a  stock  of 
small  change,  the  buono  mano  business  gives  him 
a  good  deal  of  trouble.  If  he  does  so  provide 
himself,  and  if  he  falls  into  the  custom  good  na- 
turedly,  as  one  of  the  established  usages  of  the 
country,  which  is  moreover  not  without  its  ad- 
vantages, it  becomes  a  source  of  pleasure  to 
him  to  pay  the  poor  fellows  their  expected 
fees. 

"  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  I  am  going  to  put 
the  whole  business  of  the  buono  manos  into  your 
hands." 


Contracts  and  Agreements.  41 

Vittorio  makes  a  calculation  of  the  amount  required. 

"  Good !  "  said  Rollo.  "  I'll  take  the  business 
if  you  will  only  give  me  the  money." 

"  How  much  will  it  require,  Vittorio,  for  each, 
day,  to  do  the  thing  up  handsomely  ?  "  asked  Mr. 
George. 

Vittorio  immediately  began  to  make  a  calcula- 
tion. He  reckoned  in  pauls,  the  money  which  is 
used  most  in  the  central  parts  of  Italy.  The 
substance  of  his  calculation  was,  that  for  the 
whole  party  about  half  a  dollar  would  be  a 
proper  sum  to  pay  to  the  domestic  at  the  hotel 
where  they  stopped  for  the  night,  and  a  quarter 
of  a  dollar  or  less  at  noon.  Then  there  were 
chambermaids,  ostlers,  and  drivers  of  extra  horses 
or  oxen  to  help  up  the  long  hills,  all  of  whom 
would  like  a  small  buono  mano.  This  would 
bring  the  amount  up  to  about  six  francs,  or  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  a  day,  on  the  plan  of  doing 
the  thing  up  handsomely,  as  Mr.  George  had 
proposed. 

"  You  mean  to  be  generous  with  them,  uncle 
George,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  In  travelling  in 
Italy,  pay  out  liberally  to  every  body  that  renders 
you  any  service,  but  not  a  sou  to  beggars.  That's 
my  rule." 

"  Besides,"  he  continued,  "  it  is  good  policy  for 
us  to  be  generous  in  this  case,  for  Mrs.  Gray  will 


12  R o l l o    in   Naples. 

-Mr.  George  puts  Rollo  in  funds.  Difficulties. 

pay  two  thirds  of  the  money.  So  that  you  and 
I,  sitting  in  the  coop,  as  you  call  it,  will  have  all 
the  pleasure  of  the  generosity,  with  only  one 
third  of  the  expense  of  it.'7 

While  Mr.  George  was  saying  this,  he  took 
his  wallet  out  of  his  pocket,  and  opened  to  the 
compartment  of  it  which  contained  napoleons. 

"  Let  us  see,"  said  he  ;  "  we  shall  be  ten  days 
on  the  way  in  going  to  Naples,  and  Sunday 
makes  eleven.  Six  francs  a  day  for  eleven  days 
makes  sixty-six  francs." 

So  saying,  he  took  out  three  gold  napoleons, 
for  the  sixty  francs,  and  six  francs  in  silver,  and 
handing  the  whole  to  Rollo,  said,  "There's  the 
money." 

"But,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  can't  pay 
the  buono  memos  in  gold." 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  you  must  get  the 
money  changed,  of  course." 

"  And  what  shall  I  get  it  changed  into?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  That's  for  you  to  find  out.  We  have  three  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  currency  between  here  and  Na- 
ples. We  are  now  in  Tuscany.  After  we  get 
through  Tuscany  we  come  into  the  Roman  states, 
and  after  we  get  through  the  Roman  states  we 
shall  come  into  the  kingdom  of  the  two  Sicilies, 


Contracts  and  Agreements.  43 

Arrangement  made  in  respect  to  the  hotel  bills. 

where  Naples  is.  You  will  require  different 
money  in  all  these  countries,  and  you  must  look 
out  and  not  have  any  left  over,  or  at  least  very 
little,  when  you  cross  the  frontiers." 

"But  how  shall  I  manage  that?''  asked  Rollo. 

"  J  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  any  more 
than  you  do.  If  I  had  it  to  do,  I  should  try  to 
find  out.  But  that  is  your  affair,  not  mine.  You 
said  that  if  I  would  give  you  the  money  you 
would  take  the  whole  business  of  the  buono  ma- 
nos  off  my  hands.  I  must  go  now  and  see  about 
my  arrangement  with  Mrs.  Gray." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  I'll  find  out  what  to  do." 

Thus  the  buono  mano  question  was  disposed  of. 

As  to  the  board,  Mr.  George  made  a  verbal 
agreement  with  Vittorio  that  he  would  pay  fifty- 
four  francs  a  day  for  the  whole  party,  and  that,  in 
consideration  of  that  sum,  Vittorio  was  to  pro- 
vide board  and  lodging  for  them  all,  at  the  best 
hotels,  and  in  the  best  style.  He  paid  for  five 
days  in  advance.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  the 
party  were  to  be  at  liberty  either  to  continue  the 
system  at  the  same  rate,  or  to  abandon  it,  and 
pay  the  bills  at  the  hotels  themselves. 

In  respect  to  the  carriage  and  horses,  Vittorio 
brought  him  an  agreement,  filled  up  from  a  print- 
ed form,  which  he  and  Vittorio  signed  in  dupli- 
cate.    It  was  as  follows.     There  was  a  picture 


44 


Rollo  in   Naples. 


The  contract  with  Vittorio. 


of  a  carriage  and  horses  at  the  head  of  it.  I 
give  you  the  document  in  the  original  French. 
If  you  are  studying  French  yourself,  you  can  read 
it.  If  not,  you  must  ask  some  one  to  translate 
it  for  you,  if  you  wish  to  know  what  it  all  means. 

Vittorio  Gonsalvi,  Voiturier. 


Florence,  le  22  Mars,  1857. 

Par  la  prdsente  Venture,  faite  a  double  origi- 
nal, pour  valoir  et  pour  etre  strictement  obser- 
ved, comme  de  droit,  par  les  parties  contrac- 
tantes,  a  6t6  fixe,  et  convenu  ce  qui  suit. 


Contracts  and  Agreements.  45 

Details  of  the  contract. 

Le  proprietaire  de  voiture,  Gonsalvi,  domicilii 
a  Rome,  pro-met  et  s'oblige  de  servir  Monsieur 
George  Holiday  et  sa  suite  dans  le  voyage  qu'il 
veut  entreprendre  de  Florence  a  Napoli,  par  la 
voie  de  Arezzo,  Perugia,  Rome,  et  Terracina,  et 
etre  conduit  par  un  bon  voiturier,  pour  le  prix 
convenu  de  trois  cents  francs,  pour  la  voiture  et 
les  quatre  chevaux. 

Moyennant  ce  paiement,  qui  s'effectuera 
moitie  avant  de  partir,  moitie  a  Napoli,  le  pro- 
prietaire de  voiture,  ou  son  conducteur  clelegue, 
est  tenu  des  obligations  ci-apres  designees. 

Tous  les  frais  occasionne's  pour  le  passage  des 
fleuves,  rivieres,  ponts,  et  montagnes,  ainsi  que 
ceux  des  barrieres,  seront  a  la  charge  du  voi- 
turier conducteur. 

L'e"trenne  d'usage  a  donner  au  voiturier  con- 
ducteur sera  selon  son  bon  service. 

Le  dit  voyage  sera  fait  dans  dix  jours  complets. 

Le  depart  de  Florence  est  fixe*  dans  le  journde 
du  23  courant,  a  onze  heures  matin. 

Pour  tous  les  jours  en  sus,  qu'il  plairait  a  dit 
Monsieur  Holiday  de  s'arreter  dans  une  ville, 
ou  qu'il  y  fut  force*  par  des  imprevucs,  il  est 
convenu  qu'il  payera  cinq  francs  par  jour  par 
cheval  pour  la  nourriture  des  chevaux. 

Le  voiturier  devra  constamment  descendro 
dans  de  bonnes  auberges,  et  partira  tous  les  rn.v 


46  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Mrs.  Gray  accedes  to  Mr.  George's  proposal. 

tins  de  bonne  he  lire,  pour  arriver  tons  les  soirs 
avant  la  nuit  a  Fauberge  ou  Ton  devra  concher. 
Et  pour  1' observance  des  conditions  ci-dessus 
mentionnees,  les  parties  interessees  l'ont  volon- 
tairement  sign^e. 

George  Holiday, 

VlTTORIO    GONSALVI. 

The  agreement  which  Mr.  George  made  with 
Mrs.  Gray  was  not  so  difficult  to  understand. 
Mrs.  Gray  did  not,  as  Rollo  had  predicted,  ap- 
pear unwilling  to  make  a  definite  arrangement  in 
respect  to  the  respective  privileges  and  rights 
of  the  various  members  of  the  party  in  the  car- 
riage and  at  the  hotels.  She  was  a  very  sensi- 
ble woman,  and  she  saw  the  propriety  of  Mr. 
George's  suggestion  at  once.  Mr.  George  at- 
tributed the  necessity  of  it,  in  part,  to  there  be- 
ing so  many  children  in  the  party. 

"  When  there  are  children,"  said  he,  "  we  must 
have  system  and  a  routine." 

"  That  is  very  true,"  said  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  And  the  more  formal  and  precise  the  ar- 
rangement is,  the  better,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"'  It  amuses  them,  and  occupies  their  minds,  to 
watch  the  operation  of  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  I  have  no  doubt  of  it." 

"Then,"  said   Mr.   George,  "I  will  draw  up 


Contracts  and  Agreements.  47 

Articles  of  agreement  proposed  by  Mr.  George. 

some  articles  of  agreement,  and  if  you  approve 
of  them,  Rosie  shall  make  a  copy  of  them.  Ro- 
sie  shall  keep  the  copy,  too,  after  she  has  made  it, 
and  shall  see  that  the  rules  are  all  observed." 

"  But  what  shall  I  do,"  said  Rosie,  "  if  any 
body  breaks  any  of  the  rules  ?  " 

"  Then  they  must  be  punished,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  You  shall  determine  what  the  punish- 
ment shall  be,  and  I  will  see  that  it  is  inflicted." 

So  Mr.  George  drew  up  a  set  of  rules  ;  but 
before  proposing  them  to  Mrs.  Gray  and  her  chil- 
dren, he  read  them  to  Rollo.  He  read  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

r. 

The  interior  of  the  carriage,  all  the  way,  shall 
belong  to  Mrs.  Gray  and  her  family,  and  the 
coupe  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo.  Mr.  George 
or  Rollo  may,  perhaps,  sometimes  ride  inside  ; 
but  if  they  do  so,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  they 
ride  there  as  the  guests  of  Mrs.  Gray  ;  and  in  the 
same  manner,  if  at  any  time  any  of  Mrs.  Gray's 
party  ride  outside,  it  will  be  as  the  guests  of  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo. 

"  Good  !  "  said  Rollo.  "  I  like  that  regulation 
very  much.  I  shall  not  want  to  get  inside  very 
often." 

"  You  may  sometimes  wish  to  invite  Rosie  to 


48  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  seats  in  the  carriage.  Distribution  of  beds  at  the  hotels. 

take  your  place  outside,  when  it  is  very  pleasant, 
and  you  take  her  place  inside,"  suggested  Mr. 
George. 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  there  will  be  room  outside 
for  her  and  me  too.  She  can  sit  right  between 
you  and  me." 

"  And,  perhaps,  sometimes  I  may  invite  Rosie 
and  her  brother  to  come  outside  and  ride  with 
you,  while  I  go  inside  with  Mrs.  Gray,"  added 
Mr.  George. 

"  That  will  be  a  good  plan,"  said  Rollo.  "  But 
now  what  is  the  second  rule  ?  " 

ii. 
On  arriving  at  a  hotel  for  the  night,  Mrs.  Gray 
is  to  take  her  choice  first  of  all  the  rooms  shown, 
for   herself   and  Rosie.     Then  from    the   other 
rooms    Mr.   George    is  to  choose  the  bed  that 
he  will   sleep   in.      Then   the  two  boys  are  t 
choose  from  the  beds  that  are  left,  each  to  hav; 
the  first  choice  alternately,  beginning  with  Josie, 

"  Why  should  Josie  begin  ?  "  asked  Rollo.  "  I 
am  the  oldest." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  it  is  of  no 
consequence  at  all  which  begins,  and  as  we  are 
drawing  up  the  rules,  it  is  polite  and  proper  to 
give  Josie  the  precedence  in  such  a  point." 


Contracts  and  Agreements.     49 

Time  for  setting  out  in  the  morning. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  go  on.  How  about 
Susannah?  " 

"  0,  it  is  not  necessary  to  make  any  rule  about 
Susannah,"  replied  Mr.  George.  "  I  suppose  that 
Mrs.  Gray  will  take  her  into  her  room,  if  there 
is  a  spare  bed  there.  If  not,  they  must  make 
some  other  arrangement  for  her." 

in. 
Every  evening  before  the  party  separate  for 
the  night,  Mrs.  Gray  shall  decide  at  what  hour 
we  shall  set  off  the  next  morning,  and  also  at 
what  hour  we  shall  breakfast,  after  first  hearing 
what  Vittorio's  opinion  is  as  to  the  best  time  for 
setting  out. 

"  Why  can't  we  have  a  fixed  time  for  setting 
out  every  day  ?  "  asked  Rollo,  "  and  agree  about 
it  once  for  all  beforehand." 

"  Because  we  have  different  distances  to  go  on 
different  days,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  so  that  some- 
times we  shall  have  to  set  out  much  earlier  than 
will  be  necessary  at  other  times." 

"  Then  why  should  not  we  consult  together  as 
to  the  time?"  asked  Rollo.  "I  don't  see  any 
reason  for  leaving  it  altogether  to  one  of  the 
party." 

"  Why,  you  see  that  Mrs.  Gray  is  a  lady,"  re- 
4 


50  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Tardinesses.  Fines  to  be  paid  by  the  delinquents. 

plied  Mr.  George,  "  and  it  takes  a  lady  longer 
to  dress  and  get  ready  than  men.  Besides,  she 
has  two  children  to  look  after." 

"  And  Susannah  to  help  her,"  said  Rollo. 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  still  it  seems 
proper  that  the  time  for  setting  out  should  be 
fixed  by  the  lady, —  of  course,  after  hearing 
what  the  vetturino  has  to  say." 

"  I  think  so  too,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  so  go  on." 

IV. 

Any  person  who  is  not  ready  to  sit  down  to 
breakfast  at  the  time  which  shall  have  been  ap- 
pointed by  Mrs.  Gray  the  evening  before,  or  who 
shall  not  be  ready  to  enter  the  carriage  at  the 
time  appointed,  shall  pay  a  fine,  except  in  the 
case  hereinafter  provided  for.  If  the  person  so 
behindhand  is  one  of  the  children,  the  fine  shall 
be  two  cents,  or  the  value  thereof  in  the  curren- 
cy of  the  country  where  we  may  chance  to  be ; 
and  if  it  is  one  of  the  grown  persons,  the  fine 
shall  be  three  times  that  amount,  that  is,  six 
cents. 

"  Yes ;  but  suppose  we  don't  wake  up  ?  "  sug- 
gested Rollo. 

"  That  contingency  is  provided  for  in  the  next 
article,'"  said  Mr.  George. 


Contracts  and  Agreements.     51 

Mr.  George  to  wake  the  party  up.  No  excuses  to  be  received. 

V. 

It  shall  be  Mr.  George's  duty  to  knock  at  all 
the  bedroom  doors  every  morning,  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  before  the  time  fixed  for  breakfast ; 
and  if  he  fails  to  do  so,  then  he  shall  pay  all  the 
fines  for  tardiness  that  may  be  incurred  that 
morning  by  any  of  the  party. 


"  Very  good  !  "  said  Hollo. 

VI. 

It  shall  be  Rosie's  duty  to  decide  whether  or 
not  any  persons  are  tardy  any  morning  ;  and  her 
mother's  watch  shall  be  the  standard  of  time. 
Her  decisions  shall  be  without  appeal ;  and  no 
excuses  whatever  shall  be  heard,  nor  shall  there 
be  any  release  from  the  fine,  except  in  the  case  of 
a  failure  of  Mr.  George  to  knock  at  the  doors, 
as  hereinbefore  provided. 

"  But  we  might  some  of  us  have  a  good  excuse 
some  time,"  said  Rollo. 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  we  doubtless 
shall.  But  if  we  go  upon  the  plan  of  admitting 
excuses,  then  there  will  be  a  long  debate  every 
morning,  on  the  question  whether  the  excuses  are 
good  or  not,  which  will  cause  a  great  deal  of 


Rollo  in  Naples, 


Josie  treasurer.  No  complaints  to  be  made. 

trouble.     It  is  better  for  us  to  pay  the  fine  at 
once.     It  is  not  much,  you  know." 
"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  go  on." 

VII. 

Josie  is  hereby  appointed  treasurer,  to  collect 
and  keep  the  fines. 

"  And  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  money  ?  " 
asked  Rollo. 
"  You  will  see,"  said  Mr.  George. 

VIII. 

Any  one  of  the  party  who  shall  at  any  time 
make  complaint  of  any  thing  in  respect  to  the  car- 
riage, or  the  riding  during  the  day,  or  in  respect 
to  the  food  provided  at  the  hotels,  or  the  rooms, 
or  the  beds,  when  we  stop  for  the  night,  except 
when  such  complaint  relates  to  an  evil  which  may 
be  remedied,  and  is  made  with  a  view  to  having 
it  remedied,  shall  be  fined  one  cent,  or  the  value 
thereof  in  the  currency  of  the  country.  Rosie 
is  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  the  infractions  of  this 
rule,  and  is  to  impose  the  fine,  while  Josie,  as  be- 
fore, is  to  collect  and  keep  the  money. 

"  I  wish  you  would  make  me  the  treasurer," 
said  Rollo. 


Contracts  and  Agreements.   53 

Appropriation  of  the  fine  money.  A  verbal  correction. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  you  have  the  care 
of  the  buono  mano  fund.  Josie  shall  be  treasurer 
for  the  fines." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Rollo. 

IX. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  party  at  Naples,  the 
amount  of  the  fine  money  shall  be  expended  in 
the  famous  Neapolitan  confectionery,  and  shall  be 
divided  equally  among  the  three  children. 

"  Good  !  "  said  Rollo.  "  But,  uncle  George,  I 
don't  think  you  ought  to  call  us  children  exactly. 
We  are  almost  all  of  us  twelve  or  thirteen." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  you  are  not  chil- 
dren ;  but  what  can  I  call  you  to  distinguish  you 
from  the  grown  persons  of  the  party.  The  reg- 
ular and  proper  designation  for  persons  under 
age,  in  a  legal  document,  is  infants" 

"  Hoh  !  "  said  Rollo,  "  that  is  worse  than  chil- 
dren." 

"  I  might  call  you  the  young  persons,  or  the 
junior  members  of  the  party." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  will  be  better  ;  the 
junior  members  of  the  party." 

So  it  was  agreed  to  strike  out  the  word  children 
wherever  it  occurred  in  the  document,  and  insert 
in  lieu  of  it  the  phrase  junior  members  of  the 
party. 


54  Rollo  in  Naples. 

The  document  signed.  Arrangements  for  setting  out  the  next  day. 

"With  this  correction  the  document  was  read 
to  Mrs.  Gray  in  the  hearing  of  Rosie  and  Josie. 
They  all  approved  it  in  every  respect.  The 
draught  was  then  given  to  Rosie  in  order  that  she 
might  make  a  fair  copy  of  it.  When  the  copy  was 
made,  the  nine  rules  were  read  again  in  the  hear- 
ing of  the  whole  party,  and  all  agreed  to  abide 
by  them. 

Thus  the  arrangements  for  the  journey  were 
complete  ;  and  Mrs.  Gray,  after  learning  from 
Vittorio  that  the  first  day's  journey  would  not  be 
long,  and  that  it  would  answer  to  set  out  at  any 
time  before  noon,  fixed  the  hour  for  departure  at 
eleven  o'clock.  Vittorio  said  he  would  be  at  the 
door  half  an  hour  before,  in  order  to  have  time 
to  load  the  baggage. 


The  Journey.  57 

Progress  of  the  journey.  The  first  fine.  Arezzo. 


Chapter  III. 
The  Journey. 

The  journey  from  Florence  to  Naples,  as 
planned  and  provided  for  by  the  contracts  and 
agreements  described  in  the  last  chapter,  was 
prosecuted  from  day  to  day,  until  its  completion, 
in  a  very  successful  and  prosperous  manner.  The 
various  contingencies  likely  to  occur  having  been 
foreseen  and  provided  for  by  the  contract  and  the 
rules,  every  thing  worked  smoothly  and  well,  and 
none  of  those  discussions,  disagreements,  and 
misunderstandings  occurred,  which  so  often  mar 
the  pleasure  of  parties  travelling  together  in  one 
company  for  many  days. 

Mrs.  Gray  was  fined  for  not  being  ready  for 
breakfast  at  the  the  time  appointed,  on  the  very 
first  morning  after  leaving  Florence.  It  was  at 
a  place  called  Arezzo.  The  time  appointed  for 
the  breakfast  was  at  seven  o'clock.  Mr.  George 
knocked  at  all  the  doors  a  little  before  quarter 
past  six.  About  quarter  before  seven  the  two  boys 
came  into  the  breakfast  room,  and  soon  afterwards 


58  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  children  are  very  desirous  that  Mis.  Gray  should  be  tardy. 

Mr.  George  and  Rosie  came.  The  breakfast  was 
brought  in  and  set  upon  the  table  by  the  waiter  a 
few  minutes  before  seven.  The  boys  immediately 
began  to  set  the  chairs  round. 

"Quick!  quick!"  said  Josie.  "Let  us  sit 
down  quick,  and  mother  will  be  tardy,  and  have 
to  pay  a  fine." 

"  Ah,  but  it  does  not  go  by  our  sitting  down," 
said  Rollo.     "  It  goes  by  Mrs.  Gray's  watch." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rosie  ;  "  I  have  got  the  watch. 
It  wants  a  minute  of  the  time  now." 

"  I  hope  she  won't  come,"  said  Josie. 

"  She  will  come,"  said  Rosie.  "  She  has  been 
almost  ready  for  some  time." 

The  children  all  took  their  seats  at  the  table. 
Rosie  had  the  watch  before  her,  and  was  closely 
observing  the  minute  hand.  Mr.  George,  who 
thought  it  not  polite  that  he  should  take  his  seat 
before  Mrs.  Gray  came,  stood  waiting  by  the 
fire.  It  was  a  cool  morning,  and  so  Mr.  George 
had  made  a  little  fire  when  he  first  got  up. 

Notwithstanding  Rosie's  prediction,  Mrs.  Gray 
did  not  come.  Rosie  watched  the  second  hand, 
and  as  soon  as  it  passed  the  mark  she  said,  — 

"  There !  it  is  seven  o'clock  ;  now  mother  is 
tardy." 

Josie  clapped  his  hands,  and  even  Rollo  looked 
quite  pleased.     In  about  two  minutes  the  door  of 


The   Journey.  59 

Mrs.  Gray  is  really  too  late.  Her  excuse  not  received. 

Mrs.  Gray's  bedroom  opened,  and  Mrs.  Gray 
appeared. 

"  You  are  too  late,  mother  !  "  said  Josie,  in  an 
exulting  tone.     "  You  are  too  late  I " 

'"  It  does  not  depend  on  you  to  decide,"  said 
Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  it  depends  upon  Rosie." 

"  Well,  mother,  you  are  really  too  late,"  said 
Rosie.  "  You  are  two  minutes  beyond  the  time, 
or  a  minute  and  a  half,  at  the  very  least,  when 
you  opened  the  door.     So  you  must  pay  the  fine." 

"  Yes  ;  and  you  must  pay  it  to  me,"  said  Josie. 
"  I  am  the  treasurer." 

"  But  you  have  not  heard  my  excuse  yet,"  said 
Mrs.  Gray.  "  You  don't  know  but  that  I  have 
got  a  good  excuse." 

"  Ah,  that  makes  no  difference,  mother,"  said 
Josie.     "  Excuses  go  for  nothing." 

"Indeed!"  said  Mrs.  Gray.  "Is  that  the 
agreement  ?     Let  us  see,  Rosie." 

So  Rosie  took  the  paper  out  of  her  pocket,  and 
with  Josie's  assistance,  —  who  looked  over  very 
eagerly  all  the  time,  —  she  found  the  passage,  and 
Josie  read  as  follows,  speaking  the  words  in  a 
very  distinct  and  emphatic  manner  :  — 

'"No  excuses  shall  be  heard,  nor  shall  there  be 
any  release  from  the  fine,  except,'  and  so  forth, 
and  so  forth.  So  you  see,  mother,  you  can't  be 
excused." 


6o  Rollo  in  Naples. 


Sho  pays  her  fiue.  Explanation  of  the  case. 

"  I  see,"  said  Mrs.  Gray.  "  The  language  is 
very  plain  indeed  ;  so  I'll  pay  the  fine.  I  pay  it 
very  willingly.  It  •would  be  very  dishonorable  in 
any  of  us,  after  having  deliberately  adopted  the 
rules,  to  manifest  any  unwillingness  to  abide  by 
them." 

So  Mrs.  Gray  took  out  of  her  pocket  a  small 
silver  coin  called  a  paul,  which  Mr.  George  said 
was  a  good  deal  more  than  six  cents,  but  which 
she  said  was  near  enough  to  the  amount  of  the 
fine,  and  paid  it  into  Jcsie's  hands.  Josie  put  it 
safely  into  a  certain  compartment  of  his  wallet, 
which  he  had  set  apart  for  the  purpose. 

The  truth  was,  that  Mrs.  Gray  contrived  to  be 
tardy  that  morning  on  purpose,  in  order  to  set  an 
example  of  exact  and  cheerful  submission  to  the 
law,  and  to  give  a  practical  illustration,  in  her 
own  case,  of  the  strictness  with  which,  when  once 
enacted,  such  laws  ought  to  be  enforced.  She 
knew  very  well  that  if  she  had  once  submit- 
ted to  be  fined,  when  she  was  only  a  minute  and 
a  half  behind  the  time,  and  also  to  be  refused  a 
hearing  for  her  excuse,  nobody  could  afterwards 
expect  any  indulgence.  The  effect  produced  was 
just  what  she  had  intended,  and  the  whole  party 
were  extremely  punctual  all  the  way.  There 
were  only  a  few  fines  assessed,  and  they  wrere  all 
paid  at  once,  without  any  objection. 


The   Joueney.  61 

Tuscany.  The  braiding  of  Tuscan  straw.  The  Papal  States. 

The  road  lay  for  a  day  through  a  small  coun' 
try  called  Tuscany.  The  scenery  was  very  beau- 
tiful. Although  it  was  so  early  in  the  spring, 
the  wheat  fields  were  every  where  very  green, 
and  in  the  hedges,  and  along  the  banks  by  the 
road  side,  multitudes  of  flowers  were  blooming. 
For  a  considerable  portion  of  the  way,  where 
our  travellers  passed,  the  occupation  of  the  in- 
habitants was  that  of  braiding  straw  for  bonnets  ; 
and  here  every  body  seemed  to  be  braiding.  In 
the  streets  of  the  villages,  at  the  doors  of  the 
houses,  and  all  along  the  roads  every  where,  men, 
women,  and  children  were  to  be  seen  standing  in 
little  groups,  or  walking  about  together  in  the 
sun,  braiding  the  straw  with  a  rapid  motion, 
like  that  of  knitting.  They  had  a  little  bundle 
of  prepared  straw,  at  their  side,  and  the  braid 
which  they  had  made  hung  rolled  up  in  a  coil 
before  them.  They  looked  contented  and  happy 
at  their  work,  so  that  the  scene  was  a  very 
pleasing,  as  well  as  a  very  curious  one  to  see. 

After  leaving  the  frontiers  of  Tuscany,  the 
party  entered  the  Papal  States  —  a  country  oc- 
cupying the  centre  of  Italy,  with  Rome  for  the 
capital  of  it.  The  Papal  States  are  so  called  be- 
cause they  are  under  the  dominion  of  the  pope. 
Of  course  the  Catholic  religion  reigns  here  in 
absolute  supremacy. 


62  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Emblems  of  the  crucifixion  by  the  wayside. 

While  passing  through  this  country,  the  chil- 
dren, or  rather,  as  Rollo  would  wish  to  have  it 
expressed,  the  young  people  of  the  party,  were 
very  much  interested  in  observing  the  crosses 
which  were  put  up  here  and  there  by  the  road 
side,  with  the  various  emblems  and  symbols  con- 
nected with  our  Saviour's  death  affixed  to  them. 
The  first  time  that  one  of  these  crosses  attracted 
their  attention,  Rosie  was  riding  in  the  coupe 
with  Mr.  George  and  Rollo.  There  was  room 
enough  for  her  to  sit  very  comfortably  between 
them. 

"  See !  "  said  Rosie  ;  "  see  !  Look  at  that 
cross,  with  all  those  images  and  figures  upon  it!" 

The  cross  was  pretty  large,  and  was  made  of 
wood.  It  was  set  up  by  the  road  side,  like  a  sign 
post  in  America.  From  the  middle  of  the  post 
out  to  the  left  hand  end  of  the  arm  of  the  cross, 
there  was  a  spear  fixed.  This  spear,  of  course,  rep- 
resented the  weapon  of  the  Roman  soldier,  by 
which  the  body  of  Jesus  was  pierced  in  the  side. 
From  the  same  part  of  the  post  out  to  the  end 
of  the  opposite  arm  of  the  cross  was  a  pole  with 
two  sponges  at  the  end  of  it,  which  represented 
the  sponges  with  which  the  soldiers  reached  the 
vinegar  up  for  Jesus  to  drink.  Then  all  along 
the  cross  bar  were  various  other  emblems,  such  as 
the  nails,  the  hammer,  a  pair  of  pincers,  a  little 
ladder,  a  great  kev.  and  on  the  top  a  cock,  to 


The   Journey, 


63 


Picture  of  one  of  the  crosses. 


Is  it  idolatry  ? 


EMBLEMS   ON   THE  CROSS. 


represent  the  cock  which  crowed  at  the  time  of 
Peter's  betrayal  of  his  Lord. 

Hollo  and  Rosie  both  looked  at  these  things 
very  eagerly,  as  the  carriage  drove  by.  Rosie 
seemed  somewhat  shocked  at  the  sight. 

"  How  curious  that  is  !  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  all  idolatry,"  said  Rosie,  speak- 
ing very  seriously. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  it  is  not  necessarily 
idolatry.  These  kind  of  contrivances  originated 
in  the  middle  ages,  when  the  poor  people  who 
lived  in  all  these  countries  were  very  ignorant, 


64  Rollo  in   Naples. 

Mr.  George  explains  the  use  of  such  emblems. 

as  indeed  they  are  now  ;  and  inasmuch  as  they 
could  not  read,  and  there  were  no  schools  in 
which  to  teach  them,  they  had  to  be  instructed  by 
such  contrivances  as  these." 

"  They  are  very  poor  contrivances,  I  think," 
said  Rollo. 

"  They  would  be  very  poor  as  a  substitute  for 
Sunday  schools,  and  other  such  advantages  as  the 
children  enjoy  in  America,"  said  Mr.  George  ; 
"  but  not  very  poor,  after  all,  for  the  people  for 
whom  they  were  intended.  Go  back  in  imagina- 
tion five  hundred  years,  and  conceive  of  a  little 
child,  born  in  one  of  these  peasants'  huts. 
His  father  and  mother  probably  have  never 
even  seen  a  book,  and  are  not  capable  of  un- 
derstanding any  thing  that  is  not  perfectly  sim- 
ple and  plain.  The  child,  walking  along  the 
road  side,  sees  this  cross.  He  stops  to  look 
up  at  it,  and  wonders  what  all  those  little  objects 
fastened  upon  it  mean.  After  a  while,  when 
he  grows  a  little  older,  he  asks  his  mother, 
when  she  is  coming  by  with  him  some  day,  what 
they  mean.  Now,  she  would  not  have  been  able, 
of  herself,  and  without  any  aid,  to  give  the  child 
any  regular  instruction  whatever,  but  she  can  ex- 
plain to  him  about  the  cross,  and  the  various  em- 
blems that  are  upon  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rosie  ;  "  1  should  think  she  could 
do  that." 


The   Journey.  65 

Mr.  George's  charitable  construction  of  the  case. 

"  The  child,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  in  look- 
ing upon  the  cross,  and  seeing  all  those  curious 
objects  upon  it,  would  ask  his  mother  what  they 
mean.  Then  his  mother  would  tell  him  about 
the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  '  They  nailed  him  to 
the  cross/  she  would  say,  '  by  long  nails  passing 
through  his  hands  and  feet.  Don't  you  see  the 
nails?'  And  the  child  would  say,  'Yes,'  and 
look  at  the  nails  very  intently.  '  The  soldiers 
climbed  up  by  a  ladder/  she  would  say.  '  Don't 
you  see  the  ladder  ?  And  by  and  by,  when  in 
his  fever  he  called  for  some  drink,  they  reached 
something  up  to  him  by  a  sponge  fastened  to  the 
end  of  a  long  pole.  Do  you  see  the  pole  ? '  The 
child  would  look  at  all  these  things,  and  would 
get  a  much  more  clear  and  vivid  idea  of  the  trans- 
action than  it  would  be  possible  for  so  ignorant  a 
mother  to  communicate  to  it  in  any  other  way." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rosie  ;   "  I  think  she  would." 

"  Thus  you  see,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "  there 
is  a  right  and  proper  use  of  such  contrivances  as 
these,  as  well  as  a  wrong  and  an  idolatrous  one. 
Unfortunately,  however,  pretty  much  all  of  them, 
though  perhaps  originally  well  intended,  have 
degenerated,  in  Catholic  countries,  into  supersti- 
tion and  idolatry." 

The  scenery  of  the  country  through  which  the 
journey  lay  was    enchanting.     The  ground  was 


66  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Enchanting  scenery.      Fertile  plains.      Blue  and  beautiful  mountains. 

every  where  cultivated  like  a  garden.  There 
were  wheat  fields,  and  vineyards,  and  olive  or- 
chards, and  rows  of  mulberry  trees  for  the  silk 
worms,  and  gardens  of  vegetables  of  every  kind. 
Here  and  there  groups  of  peasants  were  to  be 
seen  at  work,  men  and  women  together,  some 
digging  fresh  fields,  some  ploughing,  some  plant- 
ing, and  some  pruning  the  trees  or  the  vines.  In 
many  places  the  vines  were  trained  upon  the 
trees,  so  that  in  riding  along  the  road  you 
seemed  to  see  an  immense  orchard  on  each  side 
of  you,  with  a  carpet  of  rich  verdure  below,  and 
a  monstrous  serpent  climbing  up  into  every  tree, 
from  the  grass  beneath  it. 

The  scenery  was  very  much  varied,  too  :  and 
the  changes  were  on  so  grand  a  scale  that  they 
made  the  views  which  were  presented  on  every 
side  appear  extremely  imposing.  Sometimes  the 
road  lay  across  a  wide  plain,  many  miles  in  extent, 
but  extremely  fertile  and  luxuriant,  and  bound- 
ed in  the  distance  by  blue  and  beautiful  moun- 
tains. After  travelling  upon  one  of  these  plains 
for  many  hours,  the  road  would  gradually  ap- 
proach the  mountains,  and  then  at  length  would 
enter  among  them,  and  begin  to  wind,  by  zigzags, 
up  a  broad  slope,  or  into  a  dark  ravine.  At  such 
places  Vittorio  would  stop,  usually  at  a  post 
house  at  the  foot  of  the  ascent,  and  take  an  ad- 


",;.  ; 


•Jl' 


Mil        r  V  V1,  . 


ASCENDING    THE    MOUNTAINS. 


The   Journey.  69 

Zigzags  up  the  mountains.  Teams  of  oxen. 

ditional  horse,  or  pair  of  horses,,  and  sometimes 
a  yoke  of  oxen,  to  help  his  team  draw  the  car- 
riage up  the  hill.  Many  of  these  ascents  were 
four  or  five  miles  long,  and  as  the  road  turned 
upon  itself  in  continual  zigzags,  there  was  pre- 
sented to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo,  and  also  to  Mrs. 
Gray's  party  within  the  carriage,  as  they  ascend- 
ed, a  perpetual  succession  of  widely-extended 
views  over  the  vast  plain  below,  with  the  road 
which  they  had  traversed  stretching  across  it  in 
a  straight  line  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  like  a 
white  ribbon. 

Sometimes  Mr.  George  and  the  two  boys  de- 
scended from  the  carriage,  and  walked  for  a 
while,  in  going  up  these  hills  ;  but  generally  they 
remained  in  their  seats  and  rode.  Indeed  the 
men  who  came  with  the  extra  horses  or  oxen  often 
rode  themselves.  When  oxen  were  employed, 
the  man  used  to  ride,  sometimes  sitting  on  the 
yoke  between  them,  and  facing  backward,  so  that 
he  could  watch  them  and  see  how  they  performed 
their  work.  He  kept  them  up  to  their  work  by 
means  of  a  small  whip,  which  he  had  in  his 
hand. 

After  reaching  the  top  of  the  ascent,  Yittorio 
would  stop,  and  the  man  would  detatch  his  oxen 
from  the  team.  Yittorio  would  pay  him  for  his 
services,  and  then  the  man  would  come  and  hold 


70  Rollo  in  Naples. 

The  party  stop  for  breakfast.  Appearance  of  the  inns. 

out  his  hat  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  for  a  buono 
mano  from  them.     Rollo  always  had  it  ready. 

The  party  stopped  every  day  at  noon  for 
breakfast,  as  Vittorio  called  it.  The  coffee,  and 
eggs,  and  bread  and  butter,  which  they  had  early 
in  the  morning,  was  not  called  breakfast ;  it  was 
called  simply  coffee.  The  breakfast,  which  came 
about  noon,  consisted  of  fried  fish,  beafsteaks,  or 
mutton  chops,  fried  potatoes,  all  hot,  and  after- 
wards oranges  and  figs.  With  this  there  was 
always  what  they  called  wine  set  upon  the  table, 
which  tasted  like  a  weak  mixture  of  sour  cider 
and  water.  Every  thing,  except  the  wine,  was 
very  good. 

Mrs.  Gray,  however,  always  called  this  meal 
the  dinner,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  party  were 
very  willing  to  have  it  called  so  ;  and  when  they 
stopped  at  night,  all  that  they  required  was  tea 
and  coffee,  with  bread  and  butter. 

The  inns  where  the  party  stopped  were  very 
quaint  and  queer.  They  looked,  Josie  said,  pre- 
cisely as  he  had  imagined  the  inns  to  look  which 
he  had  read  about  in  Don  Quixote.  The  entrance 
was  generally  under  an  arched  passage  way, 
where  the  horses  and  carriage  could  go  in.  From 
this  passage  a  flight  of  broad  stone  steps  led  up 
into  the  house.  The  lower  floor  was  usually  oc- 
cupied for  stables,  sheds,  and  other  such  purposes, 


The  Journey.  71 


The  apartments.  Stone  floors.  Bed  rooms. 


and  the  one  above  for  kitchens  and  the  like. 
Higher  up  came  the  good  rooms. 

The  apartment  which  was  used  by  the  party 
for  their  sitting  aud  eating  room  was  usually  a 
large  hall,  with  a  brick  or  stone  floor,  and  a 
vaulted  ceiling  above,  painted  in  fresco.  The 
walls  of  the  room  were  usually  painted  too. 
There  was  generally  a  small  and  very  coarse  car- 
pet under  the  table,  and  sometimes  one  before  the 
fireplace.  The  doors  were  massive  ;  and  the  locks 
and  hinges  upon  them,  and  also  the  andirons  and 
the  shovel  and  tongs,  were  of  the  most  ancient 
and  curious  construction.  The  first  thing  which 
the  children  did,  on  being  ushered  into  one  of 
these  old  halls,  was  to  walk  all  about,  and  exam- 
ine these  various  objects  in  detail.  Rollo  made 
drawings  of  a  great  many  of  them  in  his  draw- 
ing book,  to  bring  home  and  show  to  people  in 
America. 

The  bed  rooms  opened  out  from  this  great  hall, 
on  the  different  sides  of  it.  There  were  general- 
ly, but  not  always,  two  beds  in  each.  According 
to  the  agreement,  Mrs.  Gray  had  her  first  choice 
of  these  rooms.  She  chose  one,  if  possible, 
which  had  one  wide  bed  in  it,  and  one  narrow 
one.  The  wide  one  was  for  herself  and  Rosie ; 
the  narrow  one  was  for  Susannah. 

Mr.  George  came  next  in  the  order  of  choice, 


72  Rollo  in   Naples. 


Mr.  George  announces  a  rule  that  be  has  made. 


and  he  generally  took  a  room  which  had  only 
one  bed  in  it,  leaving  another  room  with  two 
single  beds  in  it  for  the  two  boys.  They  always 
had  a  fire  in  the  great  hall  every  evening.  Mrs. 
Gray  usually  went  to  her  room  with  Rosie  and 
Susannah  at  half  past  eight,  leaving  Mr.  George 
and  the  two  boys  in  the  hall.  The  first  evening 
of  the  journey  —  that  is,  the  evening  of  the  night 
spent  at  Arezzo  —  Mr.  George  told  Rollo,  as  soon 
as  Mrs.  Gray  had  gone,  that  he  had  some  bad 
news  to  tell  him. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  It  is  that  I  am  going  to  make  a  rule  for  you, 
that  every  night,  from  and  after  the\time  that 
Mrs.  Gray  goes  into  her  room,  you  are  not  to 
have  any  conversation  with  any  body." 

"  Why  not,  uncle  George  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Because  I  want  to  have  the  room  still,  so 
that  I  can  write.  I  have  journals  and  letters  to 
write,  and  so  have  you,  —  and  so  I  suppose  has 
Josie  ;  and  the  evening,  after  Mrs.  Gray  and 
Rosie  have  gone  to  their  room,  will  be  the  best 
time  to  appropriate  to  the  work.  You  can  do 
your  own  work  of  this  kind  at  that  time  or  not, 
just  as  you  please  ;  but  if  you  do  not  do  it,  you 
must  not  interrupt  me  in  doing  mine." 

"  I  suppose  that  is  a  rule  for  me  and  Josie  too," 
said  Rollo. 


The  Journey.  73 

Mr.  George  disclaims  any  authority  over  Josie. 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  it  is  for  you  alone." 

"  Why  is  it  not  a  rule  for  Josie,"  said  Rollo, 
"  as  much  as  for  me  ?  " 

"  Because  I  have  no  authority  to  make  any 
rules  for  Josie,"  replied  Mr.  George.  "  I  have 
no  authority  over  him  at  all,  but  only  over 
you." 

"But,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "if  you  are 
busy  writing,  and  I  am  not  allowed  to  talk,  and 
Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  have  gone  to  bed,  Josie 
will  not  have  any  body  to  talk  to." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Then  I  don't  see  but  that  you  might  just  as 
well  make  the  rule  for  him  too,  at  once,"  said 
Rollo.  "  You  may  just  as  well  make  a  rule  that 
he  shall  not  talk  himself,  as  to  make  one  that 
cuts  him  off  from  having  any  body  to  talk  to." 

"  Only,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "  that  to  do  the 
one  comes  within  my  authority,  while  to  do  the 
other  does  not." 

Here  Rollo  was  silent  a  few  minutes,  and 
seemed  to  be  musing  on  what  Mr.  George  had 
said.     Presently  he  added, — 

"  Besides,  uncle  George,  this  is  not  put  down 
among  the  rules  and  regulations  for  the  jour- 
ney which  you  drew  up.  We  all  agreed  to 
abide  by  those  rules,  and  this  is  not  one  of 
them." 


74  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Rollo  assents  to  the  new  rule. 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  But  those  rules 
and  regulations  are  of  force  as  a  compact  only 
between  Mrs.  Gray  and  me,  as  the  heads  respec- 
tively of  the  two  divisions  of  the  party.  They 
are  not  at  all  of  the  nature  of  a  compact  between 
Mrs.  Gray  and  her  children,  nor  between  you  and 
me.  Her  authority  over  her  children  in  respect  to 
every  thing  not  referred  to  in  the  compact,  is  left 
entirely  untouched  by  them,  and  so  is  mine  over 
you." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  drawing  a  long  breath, 
"  I  have  no  objection  at  all  to  the  rule.  In- 
deed, I  should  like  some  time  every  evening 
to  write  and  draw.  I  only  wanted  to  see  how 
you  would  defend  your  rule,  in  the  argument." 

"  And  how  do  you  think  the  argument  stands  ?  " 
asked  Mr.  George. 

"  I  think  it  stands  pretty  strong,"  said  Rollo. 

Rollo  further  inquired  of  his  uncle  whethc 
he  and  Josie  could  not  talk  in  their  own  room  - 
but  Mr.  George  said  no.  If  boys  were  allowed 
to  talk  together  after  they  went  to  bed,  he 
said,  they  were  very  apt  to  get  into  a  frolic, 
and  disturb  those  who  slept  in  the  adjoining 
rooms. 

"  And  besides,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  even  if  they 
do  not  get  into  a  frolic,  they  sometimes  go  on 
talking  to  a  later  hour  than   they  imagine,  and 


The  Joukney.  75 

The  party  proceed  on  their  journey. 

the  sound  of  their  voices  is  heard  like  a  con- 
stant murmuring  through  the  partitions,  and  dis- 
turbs every  body  that  is  near.  So  you  must  do 
all  your  talking  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and 
when  eight  o'clock  comes,  you  must  bring  your 
discourse  to  a  close.  You  may  sit  up  as  long  as 
you  please  to  read  or  write  ;  but  when  you  get 
tired  of  those  employments,  you  must  go  to  bed 
and  go  to  sleep." 

The  rule   thus   made  was   faithfully  observed 
during  the  whole  journey. 

It  was  Monday  morning  when  the  party  left 
Florence,  and  on  Saturday  afternoon  at  three 
o'clock,  the  carriage  drew  up  at  the  passport  office 
just  under  the  great  gate  called  the  Porta  del  Po- 
polo,  at  Rome.  The  party  spent  the  Sabbath  at 
Rome,  and  on  the  Monday  morning  after  they  set 
out  again.  On  the  following  Thursday  they  ar- 
rived at  Naples,  and  there  they  all  established 
themselves  in  very  pleasant  quarters  at  the  Hotel 
de  Rome  — a  hotel  which,  being  built  out  over 
the  water  from  the  busiest  part  of  the  town,  com- 
mands on  every  side  charming  views,  both  of  the  i 
town  and  of  the  sea. 


76  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Situation  of  Naples.  Vesuvius.  Smoke  and  flame. 


Chapter    IV. 
Situation  of  Naples. 

Naples  is  situated  on  a  bay  which  has  the  rep- 
utation of  being  the  most  magnificent  sheet  of 
water  in  the  world.  It  is  bordered  on  every  side 
by  romantic  cliffs  and  headlands,  or  by  green  and 
beautiful  slopes  of  land,  which  are  adorned  with 
vineyards  and  groves  of  orange  and  lemon  trees, 
and  dotted  with  white  villas  ;  while  all  along 
the  shore,  close  to  the  margin  of  the  water,  there 
extends  an  almost  uninterrupted  line  of  cities  and 
towns  round  almost  the  whole  circumference  of 
the  bay.     The  greatest  of  these  cities  is  Naples. 

But  the  crowning  glory  of  the  scene  is  the 
great  volcano  Vesuvius,  which  rises  a  vast  green 
cone  from  the  midst  of  the  plain,  and  emits  from 
its  summit  a  constant  stream  of  smoke.  In 
times  of  eruption  this  smoke  becomes  very  dense 
and  voluminous,  and  alternates  from  time  to 
time  with  bursts  of  what  seems  to  be  flame, 
and  with  explosive  ejections  of  red-hot  stones 
or  molten  lava.     Besides  the   cities  and  towns 


Situation  of  Naples.  79 

Danger  from  eruptions.  The  map. 

that  are  now  to  be  seen  along  the  shore  at  the 
foot  of  the  slopes  of  the  mountain,  there  are 
many  others  buried  deep  beneath  the  ground, 
having  been  overwhelmed  by  currents  of  lava 
from  the  volcano,  or  by  showers  of  ashes  and 
stones,  in  eruptions  which  took  place  ages  ago. 

Of  course  there  is  every  probability  that  there 
will  be  more  eruptions  in  time  to  come,  and 
that  many  of  the  present  towns  will  also  be  over- 
whelmed and  destroyed,  as  their  predecessors 
have  been.  But  these  eruptions  occur  usually  at 
such  distant  intervals  from  each  other,  that  the 
people  think  it  is  not  probable  that  the  town  in 
which  they  live  will  be  destroyed  in  their  day  ; 
and  so  they  are  quiet.  Of  course,  however, 
whenever  they  hear  a  rumbling  in  the  mountain 
behind  them,  or  notice  any  other  sign  of  an  ap- 
proaching convulsion,  they  naturally  feel  some- 
what nervous  until  the  danger  passes  by. 

Naples  is  built  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  bay 
You  will  see  by  the  map  on  the  preceding  page 
just  what  the  situation  of  the  town  is,  and  where 
Vesuvius  is  in  relation  to  it.  Vesuvius,  you  ob- 
serve, stands  back  a  little  from  the  sea,  but  the 
slope  of  land  extends  quite  down  to  the  margin 
of  the  water.  You  perceive,  however,  that  there 
is  a  carriage  road,  and  also  a  railroad,  passing 
along  the  coast  between  the  mountain  and  the  sea. 


80  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Herculaneum  and  Poinpeii.  Kesiua.  The  Hermitage. 

Besides  the  villages  and  towns  laid  down  on 
the  map,  upon  this  coast,  there  are  many  little  ham- 
lets scattered  along  the  way,  so  that,  as  seen  across 
the  water  from  Naples,  there  seems  to  be,  as  it 
were,  a  continued  town,  extending  along  the 
whole  line  of  the  shore. 

Among  the  places  named  on  the  map  you  see 
the  sites  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  marked. 
Pompeii  lies  to  the  south-east  from  the  mountain, 
and  Herculaneum  to  the  south-west.  Of  course 
the  lava,  in  breaking  out  from  the  crater  in  differ- 
ent eruptions,  runs  down  the  mountain,  sometimes 
on  one  side  and  sometimes  on  another.  It  is 
the  same  with  the  showers  of  stones  and  ashes, 
which  are  carried  in  different  directions,  accord- 
ing to  the  course  of  the  wind. 

Very  near  the  site  of  Herculaneum  you  see 
a  small  town  laid  down,  named  Resina.  This  is 
the  place  where  people  stop  when  about  to  make 
the  ascent  of  Vesuvius,  and  leave  the  carriage 
in  which  they  came  from  Naples.  If  they  come 
by  the  railroad,  they  leave  the  train  at  the  Porti- 
ci  station,  which,  also,  you  will  see  upon  the  map, 
and  thence  go  to  Resina  by  a  carriage. 

At  Resina  they  take  another  carriage,  or  some- 
times go  on  in  the  same,  until  they  get  up  to 
what  is  called  the  Hermitage,  the  place  of  which 
you  also  see  marked  on  the  map.     The  Hermitage 


Situation   of  Naples.  81 

Mode  of  making  the  ascent  of  the  mountain. 

is  so  called  because  the  spot  was  once  the  resi- 
dence of  a  monk  who  lived  there  alone  in  his 
cell.     It  is  now,  however,  a  sort  of  ruin. 

There  is  no  carriage  road  at  all  beyond  the 
Hermitage,  and  here,  accordingly,  the  party  of 
travellers  take  mules  or  donkeys,  to  go  on  some 
distance  farther.  At  last  they  reach  a  part  of 
the  mountain  which  is  so  steep  that  even  mules 
and  donkeys  cannot  go  ;  and  here  the  people  are 
accordingly  obliged  to  dismount,  and  to  climb  up 
the  last  part  of  the  ascent  on  foot,  or  else  to  be 
carried  up  in  a  chair,  which  is  the  mode  usually 
adopted  for  ladies.  You  will  see  how  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo  managed,  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  ruins  of  Herculaneum  can  be  visited  on 
the  same  day  in  which  you  make  the  ascent  of 
Vesuvius  ;  for,  as  you  see  by  the  map,  they  are 
very  near  the  place,  Resin  a,  where  the  ascent 
of  the  mountain  commences.  Pompeii,  however, 
is  much  farther  on,  and  usually  requires  a  sepa- 
rate day. 

Besides,  it  takes  much  longer  to  visit  Pompeii 
than  Herculaneum,  on  account  of  there  being  so 
much  more  to  see  there.  The  reason  for  this  is, 
that  the  excavations  have  been  carried  on  much 
farther  at  Pompeii  than  at  Herculaneum.  Hercu- 
laneum was  buried  up  in  lava,  and  the  lava,  when 
it  cooled,  became  as  hard  as  a  stone:  whereas 


82  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Excavations  at  Herculaneum.  l'ompeii. 

Pompeii  was  only  covered  with  ashes  and  cin- 
ders, which  are  very  easily  dug  away. 

Besides,  Herculaneum  was  buried  very  deep, 
so  that,  in  order  to  get  to  it,  you  have  to  go  far 
down  under  ground.  The  fact  that  there  was  an 
ancient  city  buried  there  was  discovered  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  by  a  man  digging  a 
well  in  the  ground  above.  In  digging  this  well, 
the  workmen  came  upon  some  statues  and  other 
remains  of  ancient  art.  They  dug  these  things 
out,  and  afterwards  the  excavations  were  contin- 
ued for  many  years  ;  but  the  difficulties  in  the 
way  were  so  great,  on  account  of  the  depth  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  ground  where  the  work  was 
to  be  done,  and  also  on  account  of  the  hardness 
of  the  lava,  that  after  a  while  it  was  abandoned. 
People,  however,  now  go  down  sometimes  through 
a  shaft  made  near  the  well  by  which  the  first  dis- 
covery was  made,  and  ramble  about,  by  the  light 
of  torches,  which  they  carry  with  them,  among 
the  rubbish  in  the  subterranean  chambers. 

The  site  of  Pompeii  was  discovered  in  the 
same  way  with  Herculaneum,  namely,  by  the  dig- 
ging of  a  well.  Pompeii,  however,  as  has  al- 
ready been  said,  was  not  buried  nearly  as  deep  as 
Herculaneum,  and  the  substances  which  covered 
it  were  found  to  be  much  softer,  and  more  easily 
removed.     Consequently  a  great  deal  more  has 


Situation   of   Naples.  83 

Things  found  at  Pompeii.  The  museum. 

been  done  at  Pompeii  than  at  Herculaneum  in 
making  excavations.  Nearly  a  third  of  the 
whole  city  has  now  been  explored,  and  the  work 
is  still  going  on. 

The  chief  inducement  for  continuing  to  dig  out 
these  old  ruins,  is  to  recover  the  various  pictures, 
sculptures,  utensils,  and  other  curious  objects 
that  are  found  in  the  houses.  These  things,  as 
fast  as  they  are  found,  are  brought  to  Naples,  and 
deposited  in  an  immense  museum,  which  has  been 
built  there  to  receive  them. 

You  will  see  in  a  future  chapter  how  Rollo 
went  to  see  this  museum. 

Vesuvius,  Herculaneum,  and  Pompeii  are  all 
to  the  eastward  of  Naples,  following  the  shore  of 
the  bay.  To  the  westward,  at  the  distance  of 
about  a  mile  or  two  from  the  centre  of  the  town, 
is  a  famous  passage  through  a  hill,  like  the  tun- 
nel of  a  railway,  which  is  considered  a  great  cu- 
riosity. This  passage  is  called  the  Grotto  of  Po- 
silipo.  You  will  see  its  place  marked  upon  the 
map.  The  wonder  of  this  subterranean  passage 
way  is  its  great  antiquity.  It  has  existed  at  least 
eighteen  hundred  years,  and  how  much  longer 
nobody  knows.  It  is  wide  enough  for  a  good 
broad  road.  When  it  was  first  cut  through,  it 
was  only  high  enough  for  a  carriage  to  pass ;  but 
the  floor  of  it  has  been  cut  down  at  different 


84  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Some  account  of  the  grotto  of  Posilipo. 

times,  until  now  the  tunnel  is  nearly  seventy  feet 
high  at  the  ends,  and  about  twenty-five  in  the 
middle.  High  up  on  the  sides  of  it,  at  different 
distances,  you  can  see  the  marks  made  by  the 
hubs  of  the  wheels,  as  they  rubbed  against  the 
rocks,  at  the  different  levels  of  the  road  way,  in 
ancient  times. 

On  passing  through  the  grotto  in  a  carriage, 
or  on  foot,  the  traveller  comes  out  to  an  open 
country  beyond,  where  he  sees  a  magnificent 
prospect  spread  out  before  him.  The  road  goes 
on  along  the  coast,  and  comes  to  several  very 
curious  places,  which  will  be  described  particu- 
larly in  future  chapters  of  this  volume. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  when  Mr.  George 
and  his  party  arrived  at  the  hotel,  just  before  sun- 
down, Rollo  came  into  Mrs.  Gray's  parlor,  where 
Mr.  George  and  all  the  rest  of  the  party,  except 
Josie,  were  sitting,  and  asked  them  to  go  with  him 
and  see  a  place  which  he  and  Josie  had  found. 

"Where  is  it,  and  what  is  it?"  asked  Mrs. 
Gray. 

"  You  must  come  and  see,"  said  Rollo.  "  I 
would  rather  not  tell  you  till  you  come  and  see." 

But  Mrs.  Gray,  being  somewhat  fatigued  with 
her  ride,  and  being,  moreover,  very  comfortably 
seated  on  a  sofa,  seemed  not  inclined  to  move. 

"  Rosie  may  go  instead,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "and 


Situation   of   Naples.  85 


Kollo  takes  Rosie  up  upon  the  roof. 


when  she  has  seen  it,  she  may  come  back  and  tell 
me,  and  if  she  thinks  it  is  worth  while  I  will  go." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  come,  Rosie." 

So  Rollo  led  the  way,  and  Rosie  followed  out 
of  the  parlor  into  the  hall,  and  from  the  hall 
along  a  sort  of  corridor  which  led  to  a  narrow 
and  winding  stone  stair. 

'•  No,"  said  Rosie,  as  soon  as  she  began  to  as- 
cend the  stair,  "  I  don't  think  mother  will  like  to 
come.  She  does  not  like  to  go  up  long  stairs, 
especially  stone  stairs,  and  more  especially  still, 
stairs  that  wind  round  and  round." 

"  Wait  and  see,"  said  Rollo. 

After  going  round  and  round  several  times,  — 
all  the  while  ascending,  —  Rollo  came  out  to  a 
sort  of  open  passage  way,  paved  with  glazed 
tiles  of  a  very  pretty  pattern,  where  there  was  a 
door  leading  out  to  a  balcony.  From  this  bal- 
cony there  was  a  narrow  iron  stair  which  led  up 
on  the  outside  of  the  house  to  the  roof.  Rollo 
led  the  way  up  this  stair,  and  Rosie  followed 
him,  though  somewhat  timidly.  They  landed 
at  length  on  a  sort  of  platform  among  the  chim- 
neys, from  which  another  stair  led  up  to  another 
platform,  higher  still,  where  Josie  was. 

"There  !"  said  Rollo,  as  soon  as  he  reached  the 
first  platform,  "  don't  you  think  your  mother 
would  like  to  be  here  ?  " 


86  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Views  from  the  roof.  The  harbor.  Vesuvius. 

Rosie  looked  around,  and  saw  that  a  magnifi- 
cent panorama  presented  itself  to  her  view. 

"  She  would  like  to  be  here  very  much,  if  she 
only  dared  to  come."  said  Rosie. 

On  looking  towards  the  east,  Rosie  could  sur- 
vey the  whole  shore  of  the  bay  in  that  direction, 
with  the  continuous  line  of  towns  and  villages 
along  the  margin  of  the  water,  and  the  immense 
green  slopes  of  Vesuvius  rising  beyond.  Among 
the  green  fields  and  groves,  far  up  these  slopes, 
white  hamlets  and  villas  were  scattered,  and 
above,  the  double  summit  of  Vesuvius  was  seen, 
with  dense  volumes  of  white  smoke  ascending 
from  one  of  the  peaks.  The  children,  too,  could 
look  from  where  they  stood  far  out  over  the  bay, 
and  see  the  ships  and  steamers  in  the  offing,  and 
great  numbers  of  small  boats  plying  to  and  fro 
nearer  the  shore. 

Rollo  had  an  opera  glass  in  his  hand,  which  he 
used  as  a  spy-glass.  He  let  Rosie  look  through 
this  glass  at  the  mountain,  so  that  she  might  see 
the  smoke  coming  out  more  distinctly.  With  the 
glass,  besides  the  general  column  of  vapor,  she 
could  discern  several  places,  near  the  summit, 
where  small,  separate  puffs  of  smoke  were  is- 
suing. 

Farther  down  the  mountain,  Rollo  directed  her 
attention  to  a  white  building,  which  was  seen  very 


Situation   of   Naples. 


87 


The  Hermitage  seen  through  the  opera  glass. 


distinctly  in  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  This 
building,  he  said,  must  be  the  Hermitage. 

"How  do  you  know  it  is  the  Hermitage?" 
asked  Rosie. 

"I  know  by  the  situation  of  it,"  said  Rollo. 
"  Look  through  the  glass  and  you  will  see  that  it 


VIEW  THROUGH   THE  GLASS. 


is  the  highest  house  on  the  mountain  side.  Be- 
sides, it  stands  on  the  end  of  a  ridge  or  spur, 
projecting  from  the  mountain,  just  as  I  know  the 
Hermitage  does,  with  a  deep  valley  on  each  side 
of  it." 


88  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  children  make  various  observations. 

"  I  should  have  thought  that  they  would  have 
built  it  in  one  of  the  valleys,"  said  Rosie.  "  It 
would  have  been  more  sheltered  then  from  the 
wind." 

"  No,"  said  Rollo.  "  That  would  not  have 
been  a  good  plan  at  all,  for  then  it  would  have 
been  in  the  track  of  the  streams  of  lava.  The 
lava  comes  down  through  the  valleys." 

"  I  can  see  the  zigzag  road  leading  up  to  the 
Hermitage,"  said  Rosie. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Rollo  ;  "  and  I  think  it  probable 
we  could  see  people  going  up  or  coming  down, 
if  there  were  any  there  now." 

"  I  mean  to  watch,"  said  Rosie. 

Rosie  watched,  but  she  did  not  see  any  thing 
moving.  The  truth  was,  that  the  people  who  had 
been  up  that  day  had  all  come  down.  They  usu- 
ally come  down  early  in  the  afternoon.  And  yet 
parties  sometimes  make  arrangements  to  stay  up 
there  until  after  dark,  so  as  to  see  the  glow  of 
the  fires  that  are  continually  smouldering  in  the 
chasms  and  crevices  of  the  crater,  and  sometimes 
breaking  out  there. 

Mrs.  Gray  was  so  much  pleased  with  Rosie's 
report  of  what  she  saw  on  the  roof,  that  she  went 
up  herself  immediately  after  Rosie  came  down. 
Mr.  George  went  up  too.     As  for  Josie,  he  staid  • 
up  there  all  the  time. 

When  Mrs.  Gray  and  Mr.  George  reached  the 


Situation  op  Naples, 


Mrs.  Gray  goes  up.  The  iron  stair. 

first  platform,  Josie  called  to  them.  "  Mother," 
said  he,  "  come  up  here  !  " 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  this  is  high  enough  for 
me.     I  can  see  very  well  here." 

Mrs.  Gray  was  very  much  interested  in  the 
view  of  the  mountain,  and  of  the  column  of 
smoke  issuing  from  the  summit.  She  had  not 
seen  the  summit  before,  as  all  the  upper  part  of 
the  mountain  had  been  enveloped  in  clouds  during 
the  time  while  they  were  approaching  the  town. 

She  was  also  much  pleased  with  the  view  of 
Naples  itself,  which  she  obtained  from  this  plat- 
form. The  hotel  was  built  out  over  the  water, 
so  that  from  the  lookout  the  town  was  spread 
out  in  full  view,  with  all  the  great  castles  and 
towers  which  crowned  the  cliffs  and  headlands 
above,  and  the  various  moles,  and  piers,  and  for- 
tresses, that  extended  out  into  the  water  below. 

In  coming  up  the  iron  stair,  on  the  outside  of 
the  building,  Mrs.  Gray  had  been  a  little  afraid  ; 
but  in  coming  down  she  found  the  steps  so  firm 
and  solid  under  her  tread  that  she  said  she 
should  not  be  afraid  at  all  a  second  time. 

"  Then,  mother,"  said  Rosie,  "  let  us  come  up 
here  this  evening  after  dark,  and  then  on  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  instead  of  smoke  coming  out,  we 
shall  see  fire." 

"  Shall  we,  Hollo  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 


90  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  party  all  go  to  look  at  Vesuvius  after  dark. 

"  I  believe  so,"  said  Rollo.  "  At  any  rate  they 
do  sometimes  see  fire  coming  out  ;  and  I  don't 
know  why  we  should  not  to-night." 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  after  it  became  dark, 
Rollo  and  Josie  should  go  up  alone  first,  to  see 
if  there  was  any  fire,  and  if  there  was,  then  Mrs. 
Gray  and  Rosie  were  to  go  up. 

Accordingly,  about  eight  o'clock,  Rollo  and 
Josie  went  up.  They  very  soon  came  running 
down  again,  and  reported  that  there  was  quite  a 
bright  fire.  So  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  went  up. 
Taking  their  stations  on  the  platform,  and  look- 
ing towards  the  mountain,  they  could  see  distinct- 
ly a  bright  glow  playing  over  the  summit,  with 
brighter  flashes  beaming  up  from  time  to  time. 
The  sight  impressed  them  all  with  an  emotion  of 
solemn  awe. 


Planning  the   Ascension.        91 

Bad  weather.  The  ascension  postponed. 


Chapter  V. 
Planning  the  Ascension. 

Hollo  was  very  impatient  for  the  time  to  come 
for  the  ascent  of  Vesuvius ;  but  several  days 
elapsed  before  Mr.  George  was  ready.  Then, 
after  that,  for  two  or  three  days,  the  weather  was 
not  favorable.  The  sky  was  filled  with  showery- 
looking  clouds,  and  great  caps  of  fog  hung  over 
the  summits  of  the  mountains. 

"  If  we  get  up  there  when  there  are  mists  and 
fogs  hanging  about  the  mountain,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  we  shall  not  be  able  to  see  the  fire  at 
all." 

"  Then  I  would  rather  wait  for  a  fair  day," 
said  Polio. 

Polio  repeatedly  asked  Rosie  if  she  was  not 
going  up. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Rosie  ;  "  it  depends  upon 
my  mother.  I  shall  not  go  unless  she  goes,  and 
she  says  she  has  not  decided." 

At  last,  after  several  days  of  uncertain  weather, 
the  wind  came  round  to  the  westward,  the  clouds 


92  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  weather  changes.  They  send  for  a  commissioner. 

passed  off,  and  the  whole  sky  became  serene. 
This  was  in  the  afternoon.  Mr.  George  had 
been  rambling  with  Rollo  about  the  town  that 
day  ;  but  when  he  found  that  the  weather  prom- 
ised now  to  be  good,  he  said  he  would  go  home 
and  talk  with  Mrs.  Gray  about  making  the  ascent. 
So  he  and  Rollo  returned  to  the  hotel,  and  went 
up  together  to  Mrs.  Gray's  room. 

Mr.  George  told  Mrs.  Gray  that  the  weather 
promised  to  be  favorable  the  next  day  for  the  as- 
cent of  the  mountain. 

"  And  Rollo  and  I,"  said  he,  "  think  of  going 
up.  If  you  would  like  to  go,  we  should  be  very 
happy  to  have  you  join  our  party." 

"  Can  I  go,  do  you  think  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  0,  yes,"  said  Mr.  George ;  "  you  certainly 
can  go,  for  you  can  be  carried  up  in  a  portantina 
from  the  place  where  we  leave  the  carriage. 
But  if  you  please,  I  will  send  for  a  commissioner, 
and  he  can  tell  us  all  about  it." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  I  should  like 
to  have  you  do  that." 

"  Ring  the  bell,  then,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George. 

So  Rollo  rang  the  bell  ;  a  servant  man  soon 
came  in.  He  was  what  Rollo  called  the  chamber- 
man.  His  business  was  to  make  the  beds  and 
take  care  of  the  rooms.  This  work,  in  Italy,  is 
done  by  men  generally,  instead  of  by  women. 


Planning  the   Ascension.        93 


Consultation  with  Philippe  the  commissioner. 


"  Is  there  a  commissioner  attached  to  this  ho- 
tel," asked  Mr.  George,  addressing  the  servant, 
and  speaking  in  French,  "  who  accompanies  par- 
ties to  Vesuvius  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  certainly,"  said  the  servant. 

"  What  is  his  name  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Philippe,"  replied  the  man. 

"  Where  is  he  ?  V.  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  He  is  below,"  said  the  man. 

"Please  ask  him  to  come  up,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"  I  want  to  talk  with  him  about  an  excursion  to 
the  mountain." 

The  servant  man  went  down,  and  pretty  soon 
Philippe  appeared.  He  was  a  very  intelligent 
looking  young  man,  neatly  dressed,  and  with  a 
frank  and  agreeable  countenance. 

"  This  is  Philippe,  I  suppose,"  said  Mr.  George, 
speaking  in  French. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe. 

"Take  a  seat,"  said  Mr.  George.  "This  lady 
wishes  me  to  make  some  inquiries  of  you  about 
going  up  the  mountain.     Do  you  speak  English  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe,  "  a  little." 

On  hearing  this  Mr.  George  changed  the  con- 
versation into  the  English  language,  so  that  Mrs. 
Gray  might  understand  what  was  said,  without 
the  inconvenience  and  delay  of  having  it  inter- 
preted. 


94  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Philippe's  explanations.  Account  of  the  Hermitage. 

"'  In  the  first  place,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  when 
ladies  ascend  the  mountain,  how  far  do  they  go 
in  a  carriage  ?  " 

"  To  the  Hermitage,"  said  Philippe. 

"  Can  you  go  in  a  good,  comfortable  carriage 
all  the  way  to  the  Hermitage?"  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"  0,  yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe.  "  "We  take  an 
excellent  carriage  from  town.  The  road  is  very 
winding  to  go  up  the  mountain,  but  it  is  perfectly 
good.  A  lady  can  go  up  there  as  comfortably  as 
she  can  ride  about  town." 

Philippe  further  said  that  ladies  often  went  up 
with  parties  as  far  as  the  Hermitage,  and  then,  if 
they  did  not  wish  to  go  any  farther,  they  re- 
mained there  until  their  friends  came  down. 

"  "What  sort  of  a  place  is  the  Hermitage  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Gray.     "  Is  it  an  inn  ?  " 

"  Yes,  madam,"  said  Philippe.  "  It  is  an  inn. 
It  is  a  very  plain  and  homely  place,  but  a  lady 
can  stay  there  very  well  a  few  hours." 

"  Is  there  a  family  there  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  No,  madam,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  it  is  kept  by  a 
monk." 

"  Let  us  go,  mother,"  said  Josie.  "  We  can  go 
up  there  as  well  as  not." 

"Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "I  think  I  should  like 
to  go  up  at  least  as  far  as  there.     I  can  take  a 


Planning  the  Ascension.        95 

The  observatory.  Eoad  to  the  foot  of  the  cone. 

book  to  read,  to  while  away  the  time  while  you 
are  up  the  mountain  ;  or  I  can  ramble  about,  I 
suppose.  Is  it  a  pleasant  place  to  ramble  about, 
around  the  Hermitage  ?  " 

"  Yes,  madam  ;  it  is  a  very  pleasant  place," 
replied  Philippe.  "  You  have  an  exceedingly 
fine  view  of  the  bay,  and  of  Naples,  and  of  the 
islands,  and  of  the  whole  Campagna.  Then  the 
observatory  is  near,  and  that  is  a  very  pleasant 
place,  with  gardens  and  plantations  of  trees  all 
around  it.  Perhaps  the  beggars  might  be  a  little 
troublesome  if  you  walked  out,  but  I  think  I 
could  manage  about  that." 

"  What  is  the  observatory  that  you  speak  of?" 
asked  Mr.  George. 

"  It  is  a  government  establishment  that  is  kept 
there  for  making  observations  on  the  state  of  the 
mountain,"  replied  Philippe.  "  It  is  a  fine  build- 
ing, and  it  has  very  pretty  gardens  and  grounds 
around  it." 

"  I  should  think  it  would  be  a  very  pleasant 
place,"  said  Mrs.  Gray.  "  Indeed,  it  looks  like  a 
pleasant  place  seen  from  this  hotel  with  Polio's 
opera  glass." 

"  Well,  now  for  the  next  stage  of  the  journey," 
said  Mr.  George  ;  "  that  is,  from  the  Hermitage 
to  the  foot  of  the  cone.  How  far  is  that,  and 
how  do  we  go  ?  " 


96  Hollo  in  Naples. 

The  mule  path.  Various  preferences. 

"  It  is  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour's  walk," 
replied  Philippe.  "  There  is  no  carriage  road, 
but  only  a  mule  path,  and  in  some  places  the 
road  is  very  rough." 

"  Is  it  steep  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  the  steep  part 
comes  afterwards.  The  mule  path  is  nearly  on  a 
level,  but  it  is  rough  and  rocky.  There  are  three 
ways  of  going.  You  can  walk,  you  can  ride 
upon  a  mule  or  a  donkey,  or  finally,  you  can  be 
carried  in  a  chair.  Ladies  that  do  not  like  to 
walk  so  far  usually  ride  on  a  donkey,  or  else  are 
carried.  It  is  easier  to  be  carried,  but  it  costs  a 
little  more." 

"  How  much  more?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  A  dollar,"  said  Philippe. 

"  I  think  I  should  rather  be  carried  if  I  were 
to  go,"  said  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  I'd  rather  ride  on  a  donkey,"  said  Rosie. 

"  And  I  on  a  mule,"  said  Josie. 

"  You  and  I  might  walk,  Rollo,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  would  rather  walk." 

Rollo  always  preferred  to  go  on  foot  when  on 
any  of  these  mountain  excursions,  because  then 
he  could  ramble  about  this  way  and  that,  wher- 
ever he  pleased,  and  climb  up  upon  the  rocks, 
and  gather  plants  and  specimens. 


Planning  the  Ascension.        97 

Ascent  of  the  cone.  Nature  of  the  road. 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George;  "and  this 
brings  us  to  the  foot  of  the  steep  part  of  the 
mountain.  How  far  is  it  up  this  last  steep 
part?  " 

"  About  an  hour's  work,  hard  climbing,"  said 
Philippe. 

"  Is  it  very  hard  climbing  ? "  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe;  "it  is  right  up  a 
steep  slope  of  rocks." 

"  Is  there  good  footing,"  asked  Mr.  George, 
"  or  are  the  rocks  loose,  or  slippery  ?  " 

"  It  is  very  good  footing,"  said  Philippe.  "  In 
one  sense  the  rocks  are  loose,  for  the  whole  side 
of  the  mountain  where  we  go  up  is  formed  of 
slag  and  scoriae.  But  then  the  pieces  are  wedged 
together,  so  as  not  to  move  much,  and  the  foot 
clings  to  them,  so  that  you  don't  slip.  On  the 
whole,  it  is  good  footing.  The  only  difficulty  is, 
it  is  so  steep.  It  is  a  thousand  feet  up  rough 
rocks,  as  steep  as  you  can  go." 

"  I  could  not  get  up,  I  am  sure,"  said  Mrs. 
Gray. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Rosie. 

"  0,  yoa  can  be  carried  up,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"  in  a  portantina." 

"What  kind  of  a  thing  is  it?"  asked  Mrs. 
Gray. 


98  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  portantina.  The  bearers  not  at  all  to  be  Tiitied. 

"It  is  a  common  arm  chair,"  said  Philippe, 
with  two  stout  poles  lashed  to  the  sides  of  it. 
Two  men  take  hold  of  the  ends  of  the  poles  be- 
fore, and  two  others  behind,  and  they  lift  the 
•poles,  —  chair,  passenger,  and  all,  —  up  upon  their 
shoulders.  They  carry  you,  in  this  way,  right  up 
the  mountain." 

"  I  should  be  afraid,"  said  Rosie. 

"  You  would  feel  a  little  afraid  at  first,"  said 
Philippe,  "  when  the  men  were  lifting  you  up 
upon  their  shoulders  ;  but  afterwards,  you  would 
not  be  afraid  at  all.  You  ride  as  easy  as  if  two 
persons  were  to  take  you  in  a  chair  and  carry 
you  about  the  room." 

"  But  I  should  pity  the  poor  men  so  much," 
said  Rosie,  "  in  having  such  a  heavy  load  to 
carry  !  " 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Philippe,  "  instead  of  pitying 
them,  you  ought  to  rejoice  for  them.  They  are 
so  glad  when  they  get  any  body  to  carry  up ! 
They  are  paid  about  three  quarters  of  a  dollar 
apiece,  and  that  is  a  great  deal  of  money  for 
them.  There  will  be  a  great  many  of  thera  up 
there  to-morrow,  waiting,  and  hoping  that  some- 
body will  come  for  them  to  carry  up." 

"  Ah,  that  makes  it  different,"  said  Rosie. 

"  Besides,"  said  Josie,  "  you  are  nothing  to 
carry,  you  are  so  little  and  light.     Rollo  and  I 


Planning  the   Ascension.        99 

Rosie  does  not  wish  to  go  for  half  price. 

could  carry  you.  I  suppose  that  they  would 
carry  Rosie  for  half  price — would  not  they, 
Philippe  ?  " 

Rosie  looked  a  little  troubled  to  hear  her 
brother  speak  of  her  in  this  way.  She  did  not 
like  to  be  called  little  and  light.  Philippe  saw 
that  she  was  troubled. 

"  No,"  said  he  ;  "  they  will  ask  the  same  for 
carrying  Miss  Rosie  that  they  would  for  any 
other  lady." 

This  answer  removed  in  an  instant  the  cloud 
which  had  appeared  upon  Rosie's  face,  and  re- 
placed it  with  a  smile  which  had  something  of 
the  expression  of  triumph  in  it.  In  fact,  Philippe 
shaped  his  answer  as  he  did  on  purpose  to  please 
her.  It  was  strange  that  a  guide,  whose  life  had 
been  spent  among  the  roughest  of  men,  on  the 
mountains,  should  know  better  how  to  be  polite 
than  a  boy  who  had  been  brought  up  tenderly  in 
the  midst  of  refinement  and  elegance  ;  but  so  it 
often  is. 

"  How  long  does  it  take  to  go  up  the  steep 
part  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  About  an  hour,"  said  Philippe.  "  They  stop 
two  or  three  times  on  the  way,  to  rest  the  bear- 
ers, and  change  them." 

'•  Then  they  change  the  bearers,"  said  Mrs. 
Grav. 


100  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Philippe's  account  of  the  ascension.  The  crater. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  replied  Philippe.  "  We  take 
eight  bearers  to  each  chair,  and  four  of  them 
carry  it  at  a  time  ;  so  we  have  two  sets." 

"  I'm  glad  of  that,"  said  Rosie. 

"  And  what  do  we  see  when  we  get  to  the 
top  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  We  walk  along  over  the  sand  and  lava,"  re- 
plied Philippe,  "  until  we  come  to  the  edge  of  the 
crater,  and  then  we  look  down." 

"  And  do  we  see  the  fire  coming  out  ?  "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Philippe,  "  plenty  of  fire." 

"  And  lava,  and  red-hot  stones  ?  "  asked  Josie. 

"  Yes,"  said  Philippe,  "  all  the  time." 

"  I  hope  you  don't  go  too  near,"  said  Mrs. 
Gray. 

"  No,  madam,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  we  are  care- 
ful not  to  go  too  near.  There  is  a  mountain 
guide  who  goes  up  with  the  party  from  the  Her- 
mitage, and  it  is  his  business  to  know  all  the 
time  what  the  state  of  the  mountain  is,  and  where 
it  is  safe  to  go.  There  are  two  craters  now. 
One  of  them  they  cannot  go  down  into,  for  the 
sides  have  caved  in  all  around,  and  formed  per- 
pendicular cliffs.  But  at  the  other  crater  there 
is  on  one  side  a  slope  of  sand  and  slag,  where 
people  can  go  down,  and  walk  over  the  lava  on 
the  floor  of  the  crater." 


Planning   the  Ascension.       101 

The  lava.  The  plan  finally  arranged. 

"  Why,  I  should  think  they  would  sink  into 
it,"  said  Rosie. 

"  No,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  the  lava  that  lies 
spread  out  over  the  bottom  of  the  crater  has 
cooled  so  as  to  be  hard  enough  to  walk  upon, 
though  you  can  see  that  it  is  red  hot  in  the 
cracks." 

"  I  should  not  dare  to  walk  over  it,"  said  Rosie. 

"  Ladies  go  down  very  often,"  said  Philippe, 
and  there  is  no  danger,  only  the  sulphurous  smoke, 
if  it  happens  to  blow  over  upon  you,  is  bad  to 
breathe." 

After  some  further  conversation  with  Philippe, 
and  some  consultation  with  each  other,  the  party 
formed  the  plan  as  follows  :  They  were  all  to  go 
together  in  a  carriage  to  the  Hermitage.  Then 
Philippe  was  to  provide  chairs  and  bearers  for  Mrs. 
Gray  and  Rosie,  to  take  them  to  the  foot  of  the 
cone,  and  animals,  either  mules  or  donkeys,  for 
"  the  three  gentlemen,"  as  Philippe  called  them.  On 
arriving  at  the  foot  of  the  cone,  Mrs.  Gray  was  to 
decide  whether  she  would  let  Rosie  continue  and 
go  to  the  top.  For  herself,  she  concluded  that 
she  would  not  go,  but  after  seeing  the  party  com- 
mence their  ascent,  she  would  go  back  to  the 
Hermitage,  and  wait  there  till  they  returned. 

"  And  now,  Philippe,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  I 
wish  you  to  calculate  exactly  what  the  expense 


102  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  money  arrangements.  Strapmen. 

will  be  for  the  whole  expedition,  including  car- 
riage hire,  guides,  bearers,  mules,  buono  manos, 
and  every  thing.  Then  I  will  give  you  money 
enough,  before  we  set  out,  to  pay  the  whole.  I 
don't  wish  to  have  any  thing  to  do  in  the  way  of 
paying,  from  the  time  we  leave  the  hotel  until 
we  get  back  again." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  that  is  the  best 
way.  If  you  undertake  to  pay  the  men  on  the 
mountain  yourself,  they  will  never  be  satisfied. 
They  clamor  continually  for  more,  as  long  as  the 
party  will  give  any  thing.  I  know  just  what  is 
their  due." 

So  Philippe  drew  his  chair  up  to  the  table 
where  Mr.  George  had  placed  a  sheet  of  paper 
and  a  pen  and  ink,  and  began  to  make  out  his 
account.  After  writing  a  few  minutes,  he  looked 
up  from  his  work,  and  asked  if  the  gentlemen 
wished  to  have  any  assistance  in  going  up  the 
cone.  "  What  assistance  can  we  have  ?  "  asked 
Mr.  George. 

"There  are  men  who  put  straps  over  their 
shoulders  to  pull  by,  and  let  you  take  hold  of  the 
end  of  them.     It  helps  you  a  great  deal." 

"  Yes,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "  let  us  have 
them.  I  should  like  to  be  pulled  up  in  that 
way." 

"  So  should  I,"  said  Josie. 


Planning  the   Ascension. 


103 


Estimate  of  expenses. 


"  You  boys  may  have  strapmen,  then,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  I  think  I  can  get  along  without  one 
myself." 

Philippe  then  asked  if  the  party  would  stop 
on  the  way  and  go  down  into  Herculaneum.  Mr. 
George  said  that  they  would.  Philippe  then  went 
on  with  his  calculation,  and  when  it  was  finished 
he  presented  it  to  Mr.  George.  Mr.  George  wrote 
a  heading  to  it,  and  then  read  it  as  follows,  except 
that  I  give  the  amounts  in  American  money  :  — 


Ascent  of  Vesuvius. 

Estimate  of  Expenses  —  Party  of  Five. 

Carriage  to  the  Hermitage,        .         .         .  $5.00 
Fees  at  Herculaneum,        ....        25 
Portantina  to  the  foot  of  the  cone  for  ma- 
dame,     2.00 

Portantina  to  the  summit  for  mademoiselle,     6.00 
Two  mules  for  the  young  gentlemen,  .     2.00 

Two  strapmen  up  the  cone,         .         .         .     1.00 
Refreshments,   ......        50 

Mountain  guide, 1.00 

Buono  manos,  .         .         .         .         .         .1.00 

Valet  de  place, 1.00 

$19.75 


104  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Time  for  setting  out.  Arrangements  for  breakfast. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  That  is  sat- 
isfactory. Now  I  will  give  you  gold  enough  to 
cover  that  amount.  You  must  get  it  changed 
into  such  a  form  as  you  want  it,  and  you  must 
not  call  upon  me  or  any  of  the  party  for  any 
money  whatever,  from  the  time  that  we  set  out 
till  we  get  back  again  to  the  hotel." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  that  is  much 
the  best  way.  The  men  will  gather  around  you 
from  time  to  time  on  the  way,  and  clamor  for 
buono  manos,  but  you  must  not  pay  any  attention 
to  them  ;  say  simply,  '  Philippe  will  pay.' " 

"  And  now,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  it  is  all  ar- 
ranged except  the  time  for  setting  out.  What  is 
the  best  time  ?  " 

"  We  ought  to  set  out  at  eight  or  nine  o'clock," 
said  Philippe.     "  It  takes  about  ten  hours." 

"  Let  us  set  out  at  eight,  then,"  said  Mrs. 
Gray.  "  We  can  have  breakfast  at  seven,  I 
suppose." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Philippe.  "  And  will  you 
have  it  in  your  own  room  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Gray;  "let  us  all  breakfast 
together  in  the  dining  room.  That  will  be  more 
interesting.  We  may  meet-  some  other  parties 
there  who  are  going  to  the  mountain." 

"  Then  I  will  order  breakfast  for  you  at  seven 
o'clock,"  said  Philippe. 


Planning  the  Ascension.       105 

Conclusion  of  the  arrangements.  The  weather. 

"  Provided  you  find,  to-morrow  morning,  that 
the  weather  is  going  to.  be  good,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  We  won't  go  unless  you  are  con- 
vinced that  it  is  going  to  be  a  fine  day." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  we  judge  a  great 
deal  by  the  smoke  on  the  mountain.  If  it  comes 
down  the  mountain  on  this  side,  then  the  weather 
is  going  to  be  bad.  But  if  it  goes  away  on  the 
other  side,  off  towards  the  sea,  then  we  can  gener- 
ally depend  upon  a  fine  day." 

So  it  was  agreed  that  Philippe  should  make  an 
observation  early  in  the  morning,  and  if  he  con- 
cluded that  the  day  would  be  a  good  one  for  the 
excursion,  he  was  to  come  to  Mr.  George's  room 
and  let  him  know  the  decision.  He  was  then  to 
order  the  breakfast  for  seven  o'clock,  and  the 
carriage  for  eight,  while  Mr.  George  was  to  call 
the  rest  of  the  party. 

The  plan  being  thus  formed,  the  party  sepa- 
rated for  the  night.  Rollo  said  that  he  meant 
to  get  up  at  half  past  five,  or  as  soon  as  it  was 
light,  and  go  up  to  the  top  of  the  house,  and  see 
which  way  the  smoke  of  Vesuvius  was  going. 

"  Call  for  me,  and  I  will  go  with  you,"  said 
Josie. 

"  I  will,"  said  Rollo. 


106  Rollo   in   Naples, 


The  party  assemble  in  the  morning  for  breakfast. 


Chapter   VI. 
Going  Up. 

Rollo  slept  in  tbe  same  room  with  Mr. 
George,  He  got  up  as  soon  as  it  was  light, 
dressed  himself  in  a  hurried  manner,  and  went 
out.     In  about  ten  minutes  he  returned. 

"  Well,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  what  is  the 
report  ?  " 

"  The  smoke  is  not  going  either  way,"  said 
Rollo.  "  It  mounts  right  straight  up  into  the 
air  ;  but  Philippe  says  he  thinks  it  is  going  to  be 
a  fine  day,  and  he  has  ordered  breakfast.  So  I 
think  you  had  better  get  up." 

At  seven  o'clock  precisely  the  whole  party 
were  assembled  in  the  dining  room  for  breakfast. 
They  ate  their  breakfast  together  at  the  end  of  one 
of  the  long  tables.  There  were  already  two  other 
parties  in  the  room.  There  was  one  consist- 
ing of  two  gentlemen  that  were  going  to  Vesu- 
vius. There  was  another  larger  party  that  were 
about  setting  out  for  Rome.  Their  carriage 
was  at  the  door,  and  the  vetturino  and  his  men 


Going   Up.  107 

Mr.  George  takes  his  knapsack. 

were   at  work  putting  on  the  trunks  and  bag- 

At  eight  o'clock  precisely,  the  carriage  for  Mr. 
George's  party  came  to  the  door.  All  were 
ready,  and  they  all  immediately  got  in.  Philippe 
put  in  a  basket  containing  provisions.  Mrs. 
Gray  had  a  small  book,  formed  with  leaves  of 
blotting  paper,  to  press  the  flowers  in,  which  she 
meant  to  gather  around  the  Hermitage  while  the 
rest  of  the  party  were  gone  up  the  mountain. 
Mr.  George  took  his  knapsack,  though  there 
seemed  to  be  nothing  in  it. 

"  What  are  you  carrying  up  an  empty  knapsack 
for,  uncle  George  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  To  bring  down  specimens  in,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  Ah,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  wish  I  had  thought  to 
take  mine." 

"  I'll  let  you  have  part  of  mine,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "  It  is  big  enough  to  hold  the  speci- 
mens for  all  of  us." 

Philippe,  when  he  found  that  the  company 
were  well  seated  in  the  carriage,  shut  the  door, 
mounted  the  box  with  the  coachman,  and  gave 
the  order  to  drive  on. 

The  carriage  was  entirely  open,  and  the  party, 
as  they  drove  along,  enjoyed  an  uninterrupted 
view  of  every  thing  around  them.     They  passed 


108  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  ride  along  the  quay.  Living  out  of  doora. 

through  one  or  two  beautiful  public  squares,  with 
palaces  and  churches  on  either  hand,  and  lines  of 
troops  parading  before  them.  Then  they  came  to 
a  long  and  exceedingly  busy  street,  with  the  port 
and  the  shipping  on  one  side,  and  stores,  shops, 
hotels,  and  establishments  of  every  kind,  on  the 
other.  The  street  was  crowded  with  people  go- 
ing to  and  fro,  some  on  foot  and  some  in  carriages. 
A  great  many  persons  were  carrying  burdens  on 
their  heads.  Some  had  jars,  or  pails,  or  little 
tubs  of  water  ;  some  had  baskets  heaped  up  with 
oranges,  or  other  fruit.  Some  had  long  boards 
with  a  row  of  loaves  of  dough  upon  them,  which 
they  were  taking  to  the  bakers  to  be  baked. 

The  sidewalks,  especially  on  the  side  towards 
the  harbor,  were  thronged  with  people  living  in 
the  open  air,  and  practising  their  various  trades 
there.  There  were  cooks,  cooking  all  sorts  of 
provisions ;  and  blacksmiths,  working  with  ham- 
mers and  anvils  ;  and  cabinet  makers,  sawing 
or  planing,  or  gluing  together  the  parts  of  ta- 
bles or  chairs.  Then  there  were  a  great  many 
family  groups,  some  sitting  in  the  sun  around  a 
boat  drawn  up,  or  upon  and  around  a  great  chain 
cable,  or  an  anchor  ;  and  others  gathering  about 
a  fire  made  in  a  brazier,  for  the  morning  was  cool. 
These  families  were  engaged  in  all  the  usual  do- 
mestic avocations  of  a  household.     The  mothers 


Going   Up.  109 

Mrs.  Gray  resolves  to  come  again. 

were  dressing  the  children,  or  getting  the  break- 
fast, while  the  grandmothers  and  aunts  were 
knitting,  or  spinning  thread  with  a  distaff  and 
spindle.  The  men  were  often  employed  in  mak- 
ing nets. 

The  carriage,  which  was  drawn  by  three  horses 
abreast,  went  on  very  rapidly  through  these 
scenes  —  so  rapidly,  in  fact,  that  Mrs.  Gray  had 
not  time  to  look  at  the  various  groups  as  much 
as  she  wished. 

"  I  mean  to  come  and  take  a  walk  here  some 
day,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  and  then  I  can  look  at 
all  these  things  at  my  leisure." 

"  0  mother,"  said  Josie,  "  you  can't  do  that 
very  well,  on  account  of  the  beggars.  If  a  gen- 
tleman and  lady  attempt  to  walk  together  in  any 
of  these  streets  of  Naples,  the  beggars  come  and 
gather  around  them  at  every  step." 

"  Then  I'll  come  some  day  in  a  carriage,  and 
tell  the  coachman  to  drive  slowly." 

"  That  will  be  just  as  bad,"  said  Josie.  "  They'll 
come  then  around  the  carriage.  The  only  way 
is  to  drive  so  fast  that  they  cannot  keep  up." 

The  carriage  went  on.  It  followed  the  road 
which  led  along  the  shore,  as  shown  in  the  map 
given  in  a  former  chapter  to  illustrate  the  situa- 
tion of  Naples  ;  but  the  shore  was  occupied  with 
such  a  succession  of  hamlets  and  villages  that  the 


110  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  suburbs  of  Naples.  Calashes. 

road  seemed  to  form  a  continued  street  all  the 
way.  After  getting  a  little  beyond  the  confines 
of  Naples,  the  road  was  thronged  with  people 
coming  into  town,  some  on  foot,  with  loads  of 
produce  on  their  heads,  some  driving  donkeys, 
with  immense  burdens  of  vegetables  loaded  in 
panniers  on  their  backs,  or  drawn  in  carts  behind 
them.  There  were  omnibuses  too,  of  a  peculiar 
kind,  filled  with  people,  and  a  kind  of  carriage 
called  a  calash,  which  consisted  of  a  sort  of 
chaise,  with  an  extended  frame  for  people  to  stand 
upon  all  around  it.  The  first  class  passengers  in 
these  calashes  had  seats  in  the  chaise  itself.  The 
others  stood  up  all  around,  and  clung  on  as  best 
they  could  to  the  back  of  the  seat  before  them. 

Our  party  met  a  great  many  of  these  calashes 
coming  into  town,  and  bringing  in  loads  of 
country  people. 

"  It  is  astonishing,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  one  horse 
can  draw  so  many  people." 

"  It  is  because  the  road  is  so  level  and  smooth," 
said  Mr.  George.  "  The  wheels  run  almost  as 
easy  upon  it  as  they  would  upon  a  railroad." 

After  going  on  in  this  manner  for  about  an 
hour,  —  all  the  time  gently  ascending,  and  pass- 
ing through  what  seemed  to  be  a  continued  suc- 
cession of  villages  and  towns,  —  the  carriage 
stopped  before  the  door  of  a  kind  of  inn  in   the 


'Jg&L 


mi  -     '<'MSMki 

W/r-  *>Jkr*r%4, 

'       t~  ?//         ■■■.-        ,     ,  ■.■'       i   J,  V.  '"  '.     .  ;.■■......        !  I 

■■,        ■'■          ■'■■'■:  ■        :':.'        ■!.-... 

w<  ■'-  i  '    -si- 

If      '    v ;    an 

<    ;i  - ' '  .  ;45IJ> 


'IMS 


iUUllllll 


t 


Going    Up.  113 

The  party  arrive  at  Herculaneum. 

midst  of  a  crowded  street.  The  moment  that 
the  carriage  stopped,  it  seemed  to  be  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  ostlers,  donkeys  and  donkey 
drivers,  ragged  boys  and  beggars  ;  and  such  a 
clamor  arose  from  the  crowd  as  was  quite  ap- 
palling to  hear,  the  more  so  as  nothing  could  be 
understood  of  what  was  said,  since  it  was  all  in 
Italian. 

"  What  is  here  ?  "  said  Mr.  George  to  Philippe, 
when  he  saw  that  Philippe  was  getting  down  from 
the  box. 

"  This  is  Herculaneum,"  said  Philippe,  quietly. 

"  Herculaneum !  "  repeated  Rosie,  amazed. 
"  Why,  I  thought  Herculaneum  was  all  under 
ground." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  it  is.  He  means 
that  this  is  where  we  go  down." 

By  this  time  Philippe  had  opened  the  carriage 
door.  Mr.  George  got  out,  and  then  helped  Mrs. 
Gray  to  descend.  A  half  a  dozen  beggars,  some 
lame,  some  blind,  some  old  and  paralytic,  hovered 
about  the  steps,  and  held  out  tattered  hats  to  Mrs. 
Gray,  moaning  all  the  time  in  piteous  tones,  and 
begging  for  alms.  Mrs.  Gray  and  Mr.  George 
paid  no  attention  to  them,  but  passed  directly 
on,  followed  by  the  children,  through  a  door  in  a 
high  wall,  which  led  into  a  little  court,  and 
thence  they  passed  into  a  sort  of  entrance  hall, 


114  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  descent  to  Herculaneum. 

leading  into  a  building.  Philippe,  who  had  pre- 
ceded them,  opened  a  closet,  and  took  out  some 
small  caudles.  He  lighted  these  candles  by  means 
of  a  lamp  hanging  against  the  wall,  and  gave  one 
to  each  of  the  party.  There  was  an  open  door 
uear,  with  a  broad  flight  of  stone  steps  leading 
down,  like  stairs  going  down  cellar.  As  soon  as 
the  candles  were  all  lighted,  the  children  heard 
somebody  coming  up  these  stairs.  It  was  a  party 
of  visitors  that  had  been  down,  and  were  now 
coming  up.  There  were  eight  or  ten  of  them, 
and  the  appearance  of  them  as  they  came  up,  fol- 
lowing each  other  in  a  long  line,  each  carrying 
his  candle  in  his  hand,  produced  a  very  strange 
and  picturesque  effect. 

The  guide  who  came  up  at  the  head  of  them 
exchanged  a  few  words  with  Philippe  in  Italian, 
and  then  Philippe  went  on,  leading  his  own  party 
down  the  stairs.  The  stairs  were  wide,  so  that 
there  was  abundant  room  for  the  two  parties  to 
pass  each  other. 

After  going  down  some  way,  and  making  one 
or  two  turnings,  suddenly  a  light  began  to  appear. 
It  was  a  light  like  the  light  of  day.  It  grew 
brighter  and  brighter,  until  at  length  Mr. 
George  and  Rollo,  who  were  at  the  head  of  the 
party,  after  Philippe,  came  out  under  a  large  cir- 
cular opening   cut   in   the   rock,  through  which 


Going  Up.  115 

The  well.  Plants  growing.  The  theatre. 

they  could  look  up  to  the  open  air,  and  to  the 
sky. 

"  This  is  the  well,"  said  Philippe  ;  "  the  well 
that  they  were  digging  when  they  first  came  upon 
the  ruins." 

The  sides  of  the  well  were  of  solid  lava, 
smooth  and  hard,  just  as  they  had  been  left  by 
the  workmen  in  digging  doAvn. 

The  light  which  came  down  through  the  well 
shone  upon  a  sort  of  platform,  which,  as  well  as 
the  walls  around  it,  was  covered  with  moss  and 
other  green  plants,  which  had  been  induced 
to  vegetate  there  by  the  rain  and  the  sunlight 
that  had  come  down  through  the  well.  Mrs. 
Gray  gathered  some  of  these  plants,  and  put 
them  into  her  book. 

The  party  then  went  on  down  another  flight 
of  steps,  which  led  into  a  series  of  dark,  vaulted 
chambers,  all  hewn  out  of  the  rock.  By  holding 
the  caudles  up  to  the  sides  of  these  chambers, 
the  party  could  see  here  and  there  the  remains 
of  old  arches,  columns,  and  walls,  which  had  been 
buried  up  in  the  lava,  but  were  now  partially 
disinterred. 

These  remains  were  part  of  an  ancient  theatre  ; 
and  after  passing  through  several  gloomy  pas- 
sages, the  party  came  to  a  large  chamber,  where 
the  whole  front  of  the  stage  had  been  brought  to 


116  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  two  bronze  statues.  The  pavement.  English. 

view.  Before  it,  in  a  range,  were  the  seats  for 
the  musicians.  On  each  side  there  was  a  massive 
pedestal.  The  guide  said  that  there  were  two 
bronze  statues  on  these  pedestals  when  the  place 
was  first  excavated,  but  that  they  had  been  taken 
away,  and  were  now  deposited  in  the  museum  at 
Naples. 

"  We  shall  see  them  there,  I  suppose,"  said 
Mr.  George,  "  when  we  go  to  visit  the  museum." 

"  I  shall  take  great  interest  in  seeing  them," 
said  Mrs.  Gray. 

In  some  places  the  old  pavement  of  the  theatre 
had  been  laid  bare,  and  was  plainly  to  be  seen 
by  holding  the  candles  down  close  to  the  ground. 
In  other  places  the  painting  on  the  walls  had 
been  found,  with  the  colors  quite  fresh. 

"  These  must  be  places  that  the  hot  lava  did 
not  come  to,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Mr.  George. 

It  was  not  possible  to  obtain  any  information 
from  the  guide,  for  he  could  speak  no  language 
but  the  Italian,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  Eng- 
lish words  and  phrases,  which  he  pronounced  in 
so  outlandish  a  manner,  and  mingled  them  up 
so  much  with  his  Neapolitan  dialect,  that  it  was 
very  difficult  to  recognize  them. 

"  Questa  vindow  ;  vindow  orizhinalle,"  he 
would  say,  meaning  that  the  opening  that  he  was 


Going    Up.  117 

Mrs.  Gray  takes  the  forward  seat  in  the  carriage. 

pointing  to  was  one  of  the  original  windows  of 
the  edifice.  And  then  he  would  go  on  with  a 
long  sentence  in  the  Neapolitan  dialect,  which  was 
perfectly   unintelligible  from   beginning  to  end 

At  length  the  exploration  was  ended,  and  the 
whole  party  ascended  again  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  The  guide  took  the  candles  from  their 
hands  as  they  came  up,  and  Philippe  paid  him 
his  fee.  Mr.  George  led  the  way  to  the  carriage, 
which  was  still  waiting  at  the  door.  It  was 
surrounded,  as  before,  with  poor  children  and 
beggars,  who  set  up  a  loud  clamor  for  alms  as 
soon  as  the  party  made  their  appearance. 

Mr.  George  took  no  notice  of  them,  but 
opened  the  door  for  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  to  get 
in.  They  got  in,  and  Mrs.  Gray  took  her  place 
on  the  forward  seat  of  the  carriage,  —  that  is, 
with  her  back  to  the  horses,  —  and  Rosie  sat 
down  by  the  side  of  her. 

"  The  other  is  your  seat,  Mrs.  Gray,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  we  are  going  to  ride 
here  now,  and  let  you  and  the  boys  have  the  back 
seat." 

"  0,  no,  Mrs.  Gray,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  please 
take  the  back  seat." 

"  By  and  by  I  will,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  but  not 
now." 


118  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mrs.  Gray's  reasoning  on  the  subject. 

So  Mr.  George  and  the  two  boys  got  in  and 
took  the  back  seat,  which  was  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter than  the  forward  seat,  as  it  afforded  so  much 
better  opportunity  to  see. 

All  this  was  done  in  a  moment,  and  Philippe, 
after  shutting  the  door  and  mounting  the  box 
with  the  coachman,  gave  the  order  to  drive  on. 

"  I  think  you  and  Rosie  ought  to  have  this  seat, 
Mrs.  Gray,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  have  had  that  seat  already  for  an  hour," 
said  Mrs.  Gray.  "There  is  no  reason  why  I 
should  have  it  all  the  time." 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  because  you  are  a 
lady." 

"  My  being  a  lady  is  a  very  good  reason  why 
the  gentlemen  should  always  offer  me  the  best 
seat,"  said  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  but  it  is  no  reason  why 
I  should  always  take  it.  Indeed,  it  is  a  very 
good  reason  why  I  should  not ;  for  it  is  not  at 
all  ladylike  to  be  monopolizing  and  selfish  in 
respect  to  good  seats  and  good  places  when  there 
is  any  thing  to  see." 

Mr.  George  did  not  care  a  great  deal  about 
the  difference  in  the  seats,  but  he  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  disinterested  and  considerate 
spirit  which  Mrs.  Gray  manifested  in  this  case, 
that  he  secretly  resolved  that  he  would  invite  her 
and  Rosie  to  accompany  him  on  every  excursion 
that  he  made. 


Going   Up.  119 

The  zigzag  road.  Extensive  views.  The  bay. 

The  road  now  left  the  shore,  and  soon  began  to 
ascend  the  mountain,  winding  this  way  and  that  in 
long  zigzags,  through  rich  vineyards  and  groves 
of  mulberry  trees,  all  planted  on  soil  which  had 
been  formed  during  the  lapse  of  ages  from  the 
disintegration  and  decay  of  the  lava  which  had 
come  down  from  the  volcano  above.  This  land 
was  very  fertile  ;  and  as  both  the  soil  itself  and 
the  rocks  from  which  it  was  formed  were  of  a 
rich  brown  color,  the  country  looked  even  more 
fertile  than  it  really  was.  The  road  was  excel- 
lent. Indeed,  as  Philippe  had  said,  it  was  as 
hard  and  smooth  as  a  floor.  It  was  macadamized 
all  the  way,  being  made  of  lava,  broken  small, 
and  so  compacted  together,  and  worn  so  hard  and 
smooth  by  the  wheels  that  had  gone  over  it,  and 
by  the  feet  of  the  horses  and  mules,  that  it 
seemed  one  continuous  surface  of  stone. 

The  views  on  every  side  were  of  course  con- 
tinually enlarging  and  expanding  the  higher 
the  carriage  ascended,  and  as,  in  the  long  wind- 
ings and  zigzags  of  the  road,  the  heads  of  the 
horses  were  turning  continually  into  different  di- 
rections, each  person  in  the  carriage,  without 
changing  his  seat,  or  even  turning  his  head,  had 
all  the  different  views  presented  successively  be- 
fore him. 

The  whole  expanse  of  the  Bay  of  Naples  was 


120  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Naples  and  the  Castle  of  St.  Elmo.  Immense  yalleys. 

coming  continually  more  and  more  fully  into 
view,  with  the  mountainous  islands  in  the  offing, 
which  border  it  towards  the  sea,,  and  a  long  line 
of  hamlets,  villages,  and  towns,  extending,  like 
a  white  fringe  upon  a  green  mantle,  along  the 
curve  of  the  shore.  Naples  was  seen  in  the 
distance,  with  the  great  Castle  of  St.  Elmo  on  a 
rocky  summit  above  it. 

Towards  the  mountain  the  travellers  could  see 
lofty  peaks,  with  immense  valleys  between  them. 
These  valleys  were  extremely  fertile  and  beauti- 
ful, except  where  recent  streams  of  lava  had 
flowed  through  them  ;  that  is,  lava  which  had 
issued  from  the  mountain  within  a  few  hundred 
years.  From  the  road  where  the  carriage  was 
now  moving,  the  party  could  look  down  upon  the 
beds  of  these  streams,  and  as  the  lava  had  already 
become  partially  decomposed,  they  looked  like 
immense  fields  of  rich  brown  soil  turned  up  by 
the  plough.  These  valleys,  by  which  the  moun- 
tain sides  were  furrowed,  were  so  large,  and  the 
streams  of  lava  in  the  beds  of  them  were  com- 
paratively so  small,  that  Mr.  George  said  he  did 
not  wonder  that  the  people  in  the  towns  along 
the  sea  shore  were  not  more  afraid  of  living  sc 
near  the  mountain. 

"  There  is  room  enough  in  these  valleys,"  said 
he,  "  to  hold  the  lava  of  a  thousand  eruptions, 
before  they  would  be  filled  up." 


Going  Up.  121 

The  Hermitage.  Grounds  around  it.  The  crowd. 

At  length  the  carriage  arrived  at  the  Hermit- 
age. The  building  stood,  as  Rollo  had  seen  with 
his  opera  glass  from  the  balcony  of  the  hotel,  at 
the  outer  extremity  of  a  spur  of  the  mountain,  a 
mile  or  two  from  the  foot  of  the  great  cone. 
The  road  to  the  foot  of  the  great  cone  lay  along 
the  crest  of  the  ridge.  The  observatory,  which 
was  a  larger  and  handsomer  building,  stood  just 
above  and  beyond  it,  and  was  surrounded  with 
very  pretty  gardens. 

The  grounds  around  the  Hermitage  were  very 
fertile,  and  though  they  were  steep  and  broken, 
they  were  so  laid  out  in  vineyards  and  groves  of 
mulberry  trees,  and  the  sun  shone  upon  them  so 
pleasantly,  that  they  presented  a  very  attractive 
appearance.  The  Hermitage  was  a  plain,  but 
neat  stone  building,  massive  and  white,  with  a 
broad  area  before  it,  where  a  great  many  car- 
riages, and  also  a  great  many  donkeys  and  mules, 
all  saddled  and  bridled,  were  standing.  The 
carriage  drove  up  rapidly,  and  stopped  before 
the  door. 

Here  followed  another  noise  and  uproar,  from 
beggars,  musicians,  mule  and  donkey  men,  guides, 
and  boys,  who  gathered  about  the  carriage  in  a 
crowd  as  soon  as  it  stopped,  all  clamoring  for 
money  or  employment.  Mr.  George  paid  no  at- 
tention to  them,  but  assisting  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie 


122  Rollo  in  Naples. 


Adventures  of  the  party  at  tbe  Hermitage. 


to  descend,  be  led  the  way  into  the  house.  There 
was  a  boy  at  the  door  to  receive  him.  The  boy 
led  the  way  up  a  narrow  flight  of  stone  stairs  to  a 
sort  of  hall,  surrounded  on  every  side  by  massive 
walls  of  stone.  There  were  two  or  three  deso- 
late-looking rooms  opening  from  this  hall.  The 
room  doors  were  open.  The  floors  were  all  of 
stone.  There  were  tables  set  in  these  rooms,  and 
different  parties  were  seated  at  them,  partaking 
of  refreshments  that  they  had  brought  up  with 
them  in  their  carriages —  the  bags  and  baskets  in 
which  they  had  brought  them  up  lying  at  their 
feet. 

These  parties  were  waited  upon  by  the  monk, 
who  walked  about  among  the  guests,  bringing 
them  glasses,  knives  and  forks,  bottles  of  wine, 
and  any  thing  else  that  they  required.  He  was 
dressed  in  the  costume  of  his  order,  and  looked, 
as  Rosie  said,  precisely  like  the  pictures  of  monks 
which  she  had  seen  in  books  in  America. 

Philippe  came  up  almost  immediately  after  his 
party,  bringing  with  him  his  basket  of  refresh- 
ments. He  soon  found  a  table  that  was  unoccu- 
pied, and  having  placed  chairs  around  it,  he 
asked  the  monk  to  bring  some  glasses  and  some 
knives  and  forks. 

"  And  now/'  said  he,  addressing  Mr.  George, 
"  if  you  will  take  some  refreshment  here,  I  will 


Going   Up.  123 

The  portantinas.  Kosie  takes  her  seat. 

go  and  make  the  preparations  for  continuing  the 
ascent.  I  will  come  up  again  as  soon  as  we  are 
ready." 

So  Philippe  went  away.  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie 
sat  down  at  the  table,  but  the  boys  began  to 
ramble  about  in  the  hall  and  in  the  rooms,  to  see 
what  was  to  be  seen,  taking  care,  however,  to  go 
now  and  then  to  the  table  to  get  fresh  pieces  of 
bread  and  butter,  and  oranges,  so  as  to  keep  them- 
selves well  supplied  with  provisions  all  the  time. 

In  about  fifteen  minutes  Philippe  came  up,  and 
said  that  the  arrangements  were  made,  and  then 
the  whole  party  went  down  stairs.  There  were 
two  portantinas  at  the  door,  all  ready.  The 
men  —  an  extremely  rough-looking  set — stood 
beside  them. 

"  Now,  Rosie,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  you  may  get 
into  yours  first,  so  that  I  may  see  how  you  do  it." 

Philippe  spread  a  shawl  over  the  chair  which 
Rosie  was  to  go  in,  and  Rosie  took  her  seat. 
Four  of  the  men  then  took  hold  of  the  ends  of 
the  poles,  and  first  with  a  lift,  and  then  a  gentle 
toss,  they  raised  it  up  to  their  shoulders.  Rosie 
was  a  little  frightened  when  she  found  herself 
going  up  so  high  into  the  air;  but  when  the  ends 
of  the  poles  came  down  gently  upon  the  men's 
shoulders  and  rested  there,  she  felt  reassured,  and 
she  looked  down  upon  her  mother  with  a  smile. 


124  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Rosie  likes  the  portantiua.  The  party.  Refreshment  man. 

"  How  do  you  feel  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  Beautifully,"  said  Rosie. 

Mrs.  Gray  then  took  her  seat  in  her  chair,  and 
the  bearers  lifted  her  up  upon  their  shoulders  in 
the  same  way.  Both  sets  of  bearers  set  off  im- 
mediately. 

Rollo  and  Josie  then  mounted  two  donkeys, 
which  Philippe  had  provided  for  them,  while  Mr. 
George  set  out  on  foot.  In  this  order  the  party 
moved  in  quite  a  long  procession  from  the  area 
before  the  Hermitage,  and  began  to  follow  the 
winding  path  which  led  along  the  crest  of  the 
ridge  towards  the  foot  of  the  cone.  There  were 
in  all  nearly  thirty  persons,  thus  :  — 

Travellers,    .....  5 

Portantina  bearers,  8  to  each  chair,  16 

Donkey  drivers,    ....  2 

Strapmen, 2 

Refreshment  man,          ...  1 

Guide, 1 

27 

The  refreshment  man  carried  the  provisions, 
which  he  hoped  to  sell  to  the  party  by  the  way, 
in  a  basket  poised  upon  his  head. 

The  procession  moved  on  in  this  order,  along 
a  rough  and  narrow  mule  path,  for  nearly  an  hour. 


Going  Up.  125 

The  party  draw  near  to  the  foot  of  the  cone. 

In  some  parts  of  the  way  the  road  was  pretty 
nearly  level  ;  in  others  it  was  extremely  broken 
and  steep,  where  it  passed  across  old  streams  of 
lava.  Before  them  the  travellers  could  see,  all 
the  way,  the  immense  cone,  which  formed  the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  rising  into  the  sky. 
They  saw  that  they  were  gradually  drawing 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  foot  of  it,  and  on 
looking  up  they  could  see  another  party,  which 
had  preceded  them  in  making  the  ascent,  slowly 
toiling  their  way  up  the  rocky  steep,  while,  at  a 
little  distance  on  one  side,  another  party  were 
seen  descending  by  a  different  path,  which  was 
seen  winding  down  circuitously  at  a  part  of  the 
mountain  where  the  slope  was  formed  of  sand. 

At  length  Rollo  saw  at  a  distance  before  him  a 
level  place  among  the  trees,  very  near  the  foot  of 
the  great  cone.  This  he  knew  at  once  must  be 
the  halting  place. 

"  Uncle  George,"  said  he,  "  we  are  coming  to 
the  end  of  our  ride." 

"  Are  we  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "  Do  you  see  all  those 
mules  and  donkeys  there,  standing  together 
among  the  rocks  and  trees  ?  That  must  be  the 
halting  place  at  the  foot  of  the  cone." 

Rollo  was  right.  As  soon  as  he  and  Josie  ar- 
rived at  this  place,  the  donkey  boys  stopped  the 


126  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Rosie  decides  to  ascend  the  cone. 

donkeys,  and  held  them  by  the  head  for  the  riders 
to  dismount.  The  bearers  of  the  portautinas 
stopped  too,  to  change  hands. 

Mrs.  Gray  got  out  of  her  chair  as  soon  as  the 
men  put  it  down,  and  went  to  Rosie's  chair  to 
ask  Rosie  how  she  had  eot  along. 

"Very  well  indeed/' said  Rosie.  "I  like  it 
very  much." 

■'  Does  your  courage  hold  out  to  go  up  the 
cone?"  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

li  0,  yes,  mother,"  said  Rosie  ;  "  and  I  wish 
you  would  go  up  too." 

"  No,"  replied  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  I  will  go  back  to 
the  Hermitage,  and  wait  there  until  you  come 
down.  But  you  may  go  up  if  you  wish,  and  if 
Mr.  George  is  willing  to  take  you." 

Mr.  George  said  that  he  should  like  to  have 
Rosie  go  very  much,  and  he  promised  to  take 
special  care  of  her.  So  the  new  bearers  lifted 
her  up  upon  their  shoulders  again,  and  the  strap- 
men  that  Philippe  had  provided  came  with  their 
straps  to  Rollo  and  Josie.  Mr.  George  took  a 
cane  which  one  of  the  boys  provided  him  with, 
and  thus  the  party  began  the  ascent  of  the  cone. 

Rollo  found,  after  a  while,  that  he  did  not  need 
the  strapmen  ;  so  he  let  Josie  have  them  both. 
Josie  put  his  staff  through  the  loops  of  the 
straps,  and  took  hold  of  the  ends  of  it,  while  the 


: ' ' ' :  In 


Going  Up.  129 

Order  of  processiorj.  The  bearers.  Mr.  George's  composure. 

men  walked  before  him,  and  pulled  him  up  the 
rocks. 

Rollo  kept  ahead.  He  climbed  faster  than  the 
rest  of  the  train,  but  he  stopped  now  and  then 
on  some  projecting  mass  of  lava  to  wait  for  them 
to  come  up.  Next  to  Rollo  came  Josie,  with  the 
two  strapmen  pulling  him  up  by  their  straps. 
Then  the  refreshment  man,  with  his  basket  of 
provisions  on  his  head.  Last  of  all  came  the 
bearers  of  the  portantina,  with  Rosie  in  the  chair. 
Mr.  George  followed  immediately  after.  He 
kept  close  to  Rosie  all  the  way,  for  he  thought 
she  would  be  afraid  to  be  left  alone  with  such 
wild  and  rough-looking  men. 

Indeed,  she  doubtless  would  have  been  afraid, 
for  the  men  were  rough  and  wild  in  their  de- 
meanor, as  well  as  in  their  looks.  They  made  a 
great  deal  of  noise,  shouting  and  scolding  all  the 
way.  Every  now  and  then  they  would  stop  to 
rest,  and  then  they  would  clamor  for  buono  manos, 
sometimes  begging  for  the  money  in  very  earnest 
and  noisy,  but  suppliant  tones,  and  sometimes  de- 
manding it  in  a  very  loud  and  threatening  man- 
ner. Mr.  George,  however,  paid  no  heed  to 
these  requests,  but  steadily  refused  to  give  the 
men  any  money,  saying  simply  that  Philippe 
would  pay.  At  length  the  men,  finding  that 
Mr.  George  was  cool  and  collected,  and  that  he 
9 


130  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Effect  of  it  upon  the  bearers.  They  all  reach  the  summit. 

did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  intimidated  by  their 
violent  and  boisterous  demeanor,  became  quiet, 
and  performed  their  duty  in  a  more  steady  and 
orderly  manner. 

The  party  went  on  climbing  in  this  way  for 
nearly  an  hour,  and  finally  reached  the  summit. 


The    Summit.  131 

The  bearers  make  fresh  demands.  "Philippe  payera." 


Chapter    VII. 
The   Summit. 

On  coming  out  upon  the  brow  of  the  moun- 
tain, Rollo  saw  at  a  short  distance  before  him  an 
immense  column  of  dense  white  vapor  pouring 
up  into  the  air.  His  first  impulse  was  to  run 
forward  up  the  sandy  slope  that  still  remained 
between  the  place  where  he  stood  and  the  mar- 
gin of  the  crater  ;  but  he  checked  himself,  and 
stopped  where  he  was,  to  wait  for  the  rest  of  the 
party.  As  soon  as  the  portantina  bearers 
reached  the  place  where  he  stood,  they  set  down 
the  chair,  and  immediately  the  whole  set  crowded 
around  Mr.  George,  and  again  demanded  buono 
manos. 

"  Philippe  payera"  said  Mr.  George,  pointing 
down  the  mountain  to  the  Hermitage  —  "  Philippe 
payera,  Id  has"  which  means,  "  Philippe  will 
pay  when  you  go  down." 

Mr.  George  said  this  in  a  very  quiet  manner, 
and  then  proceeded  to  help  Rosie  out  of  her 
chair.     The  guide  who  had  come  up  the  moun- 


132  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Theory  of  the  formation  of  craters. 

tain  with  them  then  led  the  way,  and  Mr.  George, 
Rollo.  Rosie  and  Josie  followed,  towards  the 
crater. 

And  here  I  must  stop  a  moment  in  my  story  to 
explain  a  little  what  a  crater  is,  and  how  it  is 
formed.  A  crater  is  a  great  circular  pit  or  de- 
pression in  the  top  of  a  volcano,  formed  by  the 
sinking  of  the  ground  in  that  part.  This  sinking 
of  the  ground  is  caused  apparently  by  the  cooling 
and  shrinking  of  the  melted  matter  below,  af- 
ter a  time  when  it  has  been  unusually  heated. 

Most  boys  have  observed  an  effect  similar  to 
this  in  casting  lead.  When  you  attempt  to  cast 
any  thing  of  lead, —  a  cannon,  for  example,  or 
anchor,  or  even  a  bullet,  —  you  will  observe  that 
as  the  lead  cools,  the  portion  of  it  which  comes  at 
the  top  of  the  mould  shrinks  and  falls  informing 
a  little  pit  or  depression,  which  you  have  to  fill 
up  by  pouring  in  a  little  more  lead.  The  reason 
is,  that  lead,  as  well  as  most  other  melted  sub- 
stances, shrinks  when  it  cools.  In  the  case  of  the 
bullet,  for  instance,  all  the  lead  which  forms  the 
mass  of  the  bullet  within  the  mould  shrinks. 
The  effect  of  this  would  be  to  collapse  the  sides, 
were  it  not  that  the  sides  have  already  become 
solid  by  contact  with  the  cold  mould.  But  the 
lead  at  the  top,  having  been  poured  in  last,  is  still 
fluid  ;  and  so  that  settles  down  as  the  lead  cools 


The   Summit.  133 


Nature  of  the  explosious.  The  ejected  lava. 


below,  and  forms  the  little  pit  or  depression, 
which  the  boy  presently  fills  up  by  pouring  in  a 
little  more  lead. 

It  is  much  the  same  with  a  volcano.  For  some 
reason  or  other,  —  no  one  as  yet  knows  what  it 
iS;  —  the  interior  of  a  volcano  changes  its  tem- 
perature very  much  at  different  times.  Some- 
times for  a  period  of  several  months,  or  years,  it 
seems  to  be  all  the  time  growing  hotter  and  hot- 
ter. The  substances  below  become  more  and 
more  melted,  and  formed  into  lava.  The  water, 
which  is  all  the  time  filtering  in  through  the 
crevices  and  openings,  in  the  rocks  around  the 
sides  of  the  mountain,  is  forced  down  under  this 
molten  mass  by  the  immense  pressure  given  to 
it  by  the  height  of  the  mountain.  There  it  is 
turned  into  steam.  For  a  time  it  is  kept  down 
by  the  vast  weight  of  the  lava  which  is  over  it, 
but  after  a  time  the  elastic  force  of  it  gets  so 
great  that  a  bubble  of  it  bursts  up,  and  comes  out 
at  the  top  of  the  mountain  in  a  great,  thundering 
puff,  bringing  up  some  portion  of  the  melted 
lava  with  it,  and  throwing  it  high  into  the  air. 

The  lava  thus  thrown  up  falls  down  again,  and 
when  there  is  no  wind  it  falls  down  close  around 
the  opening.  Some  of  it  falls  into  the  opening, 
where  it  is  melted  again.  The  rest  falls  on  the 
sides,  and  in  process  of  time  it  begins  to  build 


134  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Effects  of  the  gradual  cooling  of  the  mountain. 

up  a  small  hill,  as  it  were,  all  around  the  open- 
ing, though  the  puffs  and  explosions  of  steam  that 
are  continually  coming  out  keep  a  mouth  open  at 
the  top. 

Things  go  on  in  this  way  for  some  time,  until 
at  length,  for  some  mysterious  reason  which  no- 
body understands,  the  interior  of  the  mountain 
begins  to  moderate  its  heat,  and  finally  to  grow 
cool  —  not  entirely  cool,  but  cooler  than  it  has 
been.  The  puffs  and  explosions  gradually  cease. 
The  lava  within  the  bowels  of  the  mountain 
shrinks  as  it  cools.  The  sides  of  the  mountain 
being  firm  and  solid,  do  not  collapse  ;  but  the  top, 
being  still  more  or  less  soft,  falls  in,  not  suddenly, 
but  by  a  slow  and  gradual  motion,  correspond- 
ing with  the  progress  of  the  cooling  below.  So 
slow,  indeed,  is  this  progress,  that  sometimes  the 
ground  continues  sinking  slowly  in  this  way  for 
several  years  before  the  crater  is  fully  formed. 

All  this  time,  although  the  puffs  and  explosions 
have  in  a  great  measure  ceased,  the  steam  con- 
tinues to  blow  out,  more  or  less  steadily,  from  a 
great  many  small  openings,  some  of  them  in  the 
bottom  of  the  crater,  and  some,  perhaps,  in  the 
sides.  This  steam  is  changed  into  visible  vapor 
when  it  comes  out  where  the  air  is  cool,  and  the 
several  streams,  mingling  together  as  they  rise  into 
the  air,  form   a   cloudy  column,  which   is  often 


The    Summit.  135 

Manner  in  which  the  small  cones  are  formed. 

called  smoke.  Strictly  speaking,  however,  it  is 
not  smoke.  It  is  almost  entirely  composed  of 
steam. 

After  continuing  in  this  state  for  some  time, 
the  interior  of  the  mountain  begins  to  grow  hot 
again.  Then  the  steam  and  hot  lava  begin  to 
puff  out  at  some  one  or  other  of  the  vents  in  the 
bottom  of  the  crater.  If  the  heating  goes  on, 
the  lava  comes  out  hotter  and  hotter  from  the 
opening,  and  by  melting  away  the  sides  of  it  and 
blowing  it  out,  it  gradually  enlarges  it.  The 
lava  that  is  blown  out,  too,  falls  down  all  around 
the  hole,  and  gradually  builds  up  a  mound  around 
it,  like  a  little  dome,  while  the  successive  blasts 
keep  the  outlet  open  all  the  time  at  the  top. 
This  small  cone,  rising  up  gradually  thus,  in  the 
bottom  of  the  crater  formed  by  the  sinking  in  of 
the  mountain  before,  and  the  chimney  opening 
up  through  the  centre  of  it,  gives  vent  to  all  the 
steam  from  below,  while  a  great  many  of  the 
other  orifices  are  stopped  up  by  the  lava  which 
comes  up  out  of  the  great  opening  falling  into 
them.  After  a  time,  the  lava  that  is  thrown  out 
spreads  over  the  whole  floor  of  the  crater  in  a 
mass  of  black,  corrugated  slag,  with  the  small 
cone  rising  from  the  centre  of  it,  and  the  opening 
at  the  top  glowing  like  the  mouth  of  a  fiery  fur- 
nace, and  bursting  out  every  now  and  then,  with 


136  Rollo  in  Naples. 

The  party  advance  to  the  edge  of  the  crater. 

explosions  of  steam,  and  red-hot  stones,  and 
melted  lava. 

This  was  precisely  the  condition  of  Vesuvius 
at  the  time  that  Rollo  visited  it.  The  top  of  the 
mountain  had  fallen  in,  in  two  places,  some  time 
before,  on  account  of  the  cooling  below,  and  two 
great  craters  had  been  formed.  Now,  the  fur- 
nace had  been  for  some  time  heating  up  again, 
and  in  each  crater  a  black  cone,  with  a  fiery 
mouth  open  at  the  apex  of  it,  was  gradually 
growing  up,  and  covering  the  whole  floor  of  the 
crater  with  the  black  and  molten  matter  which  it 
was  ejecting. 

It  was  to  the  edge  of  one  of  these  craters  that 
the  party  now  advanced,  and  the  engraving  will 
give  you  some  idea  of  the  view  which  it  pre- 
sented. 

There  were  several  persons,  both  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  standing  on  the  margin  of  the  crater 
when  our  party  arrived.  Mr.  George  led  Rosie 
to  the  place,  and  looked  down  with  her  into  the 
abyss.  The  sides  of  it  were  formed  of  precipi- 
tous cliffs  of  rocks  and  sand,  all  beautifully  col- 
ored, in  every  shade  of  red  and  yellow,  by  the 
deposits  of  sulphur  which  had  accumulated  upon 
them  from  the  fumes  of  the  volcano.  The  floor 
of  the  crater  was  black  as  jet,  being  covered  by 
the  molten  lava,  which  had  gradually  spread  over 


'i  Mllii',  -    ; 

,'iilnK 


f'S/ 


.  :      ..  ■     ■  .       .  ........      ......         .  ..      .. .  ' 


S:&t 


TOIL 
«»1 


OS;'!; '«■ 

Sill 
■.■.".../'jv-;;-;-; 


The   Summit.  139 

Action  of  the  cone.  Rosie  is  at  first  afraid. 

it.  The  surface  of  this  lava  lay  in  wave-like 
corrugations,  like  the  hide  of  a  rhinoceros,  show- 
ing that  it  was  or  had  been  semi-fluid.  In  the 
centre  rose  a  great,  black,  rounded  cone,  like  the 
cupola  of  an  immense  blast  furnace.  This  cone 
was  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  there  was  an  open- 
ing at  the  top  eight  or  ten  feet  in  diameter, 
which  glowed  with  a  furious  heat,  and  emitted 
quietly,  but  continually,  a  red-hot  breath  of  sul- 
phurous vapor. 

After  remaining  thus  quiet  for  a  few  moments, 
suddenly  it  would  give  a  gasp,  and  immediately 
afterwards  there  would  burst  forth  a  thundering 
explosion,  which  seemed  to  come  up  from  a  great 
depth  below,  and  threw  into  the  air  a  shower  of 
stones  and  scraps  of  molten  lava,  which,  after  as- 
cending to  a  great  height,  came  down  again,  and 
fell,  with  a  dripping  sound,  upon  and  around  the 
cone.  Similar  explosions  occurred  at  intervals 
of  a  few  minutes,  all  the  time  that  the  party 
remained. 

Rosie  was  at  first  very  much  afraid  of  these  ex- 
plosions, and  she  wished  to  go  back.  Mr.  George 
himself  was  also  afraid  at  first  to  stand  very  near 
the  edge  of  the  crater  ;  but  it  was  not  on  account 
of  the  explosions,  but  for  fear  that  the  cliff  might 
cave  in.  Indeed,  the  cliffs  all  around  were 
cracked   off,  and  in  some  places   leaning   over, 


140  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Crevices  in  the  cliffa.  Rosie  afraid.  Walls  of  the  crater. 

apparently  ready  to  fall  ;  and  even  at  the  spot 
where  the  spectators  stood  looking  into  the  cra- 
ter, there  was  a  fissure  running  along  parallel  to 
the  cliff,  some  feet  behind  them.  At  first  Mr. 
George  was  afraid  to  step  over  this  crack. 

"  How  do  they  know,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  but 
that  the  whole  mass  will  fall  and  carry  them  all 
down  into  the  gulf  below  ?  " 

He  found,  however,  after  waiting  a  little  while, 
that  it  did  not  fall,  and  there  were  besides  other 
masses  a  little  farther  along,  as  seen  in  the  en- 
graving, which  had  become  separated  entirely 
from  the  cliff  behind  them,  leaving  a  chasm  open 
two  or  three  feet  wide ;  and  yet  they  did  not  fall. 
So  Mr.  George  gradually  acquired  more  con- 
fidence, and  at  length  went  cautiously  forward, 
and  looked  over  the  brink. 

Rosie,  however,  hung  back.  She  was  alarmed 
to  see  Rollo  and  Josie  go  so  near. 

"  Come  back,  Josie,"  said  she ;  "  come  back. 
You  must  not  go  so  near." 

So  Mr.  George  called  the  boys  back,  and  they 
obeyed. 

The  walls  of  this  crater  were  on  every  side 
almost  perpendicular.  As  the  central  part  had 
gradually  sunk,  the  sides  had  caved  off  and  fallen 
in,  and  then  afterwards  the  lava  that  had  been 
thrown  up  had  spread  over  the  floor,  and  covered 


The  Summit.  141 


The  party  stand  on  the  brink  of  the  crater. 


it  with  a  bed  of  a  half-fluid  looking  substance, 
that  was  as  black  as  pitch,  and  which,  though  it 
was  really  now  pretty  hard,  looked  as  if  a  stone 
thrown  down  upon  it  would  sink  immediately 
into  it,  out  of  sight. 

The  crater  seemed  to  be  four  or  five  hundred 
feet  across,  and  the  walls  of  it  were  eighty  or  a 
hundred  feet  high. 

After  Mr.  George  and  the  children  had  been 
standing  upon  the  brink  of  this  abyss  some  time, 
watching  the  explosions,  the  guide  who  had  come 
up  with  them  from  the  Hermitage  beckoned  to 
Mr.  George,  and  saying  something  at  the  same 
time  in  Italian,  made  signs  as  if  he  wished  the 
party  to  go  with  him  to  some  other  place. 

"  Come,  boys,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  he  wants  us 
to  go  with  him." 

"  Where  does  he  want  us  to  go  ? "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  cannot 
understand  what  he  says  ;  but  let  us  go  and  see." 

So  the  whole  party  followed  the  guide,  Mr. 
George  leading  Rosie  by  the  hand.  The  guide 
conducted  them  along  a  narrow  path  through  the 
sand,  which  led  away  from  the  crater  behind  a 
hill  which  formed  one  of  the  sides  of  it  at  a  place 
where  it  was  so  steep  below  the  path  down  the 
mountain  side,  that  Rosie  was  almost  afraid  to 


142  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  second  crater.  Path  leading  down  into  it. 

go.  Mr.  George,  however,  held  her  firmly  by 
the  hand,  and  he  charged  Rollo  and  Josie  to  fol- 
low very  carefully.  After  going  on  in  this  way 
for  some  distance,  they  came  to  another  crater 
very  similar  to  the  first,  only  the  sides  of  it,  in- 
stead of  being  formed,  like  the  first,  of  perpendic- 
ular cliffs,  consisted  of  steep,  sloping  banks  of 
volcanic  sand  and  gravel.  There  was,  however, 
the  same  pitchy  bed  of  lava  spread  out  all  over 
the  bottom  of  it  below,  and  in  the  centre  a  black 
cone  thirty  feet  high,  with  a  fiery  furnace  mouth 
at  the  top,  glowing  with  heat,  and  throwing  out 
continually  the  same  thundering  puffs  of  steam, 
and  projecting  the  same  masses  of  melted  lava 
and  hot  stones  into  the  air. 

"  Ah,  here  is  another  crater ! "  said  Mr.  George. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  only  it  is  smaller  than 
the  first.     I  like  the  first  the  best." 

While  they  were  standing  on  the  narrow  ridge 
which  formed  the  brink  of  the  crater,  looking 
down,  their  guide  by  their  side,  another  guide 
came  by,  conducting  two  young  men  ;  and  they, 
instead  of  stopping  on  the  brink,  as  Mr.  George 
and  his  party  had  done,  began  at  once  to  go  down. 
There  was  a  sort  of  track  in  the  sand  down  the 
slope,  and  in  this  track  the  young  men,  half  walk- 
ing, half  sliding,  descended. 

"  Why,  uncle  George !  "  exclaimed  Rollo, "  they 


The   Summit.  143 

Rollo  and  Josie  descend  into  the  crater. 

are  going  down  into  the  crater.  Let  Josie  and 
me  go  too." 

Mr.  George  saw  by  a  glance  that  the  descent 
into  the  crater  must  be  safe,  for  the  young  men 
were  led  by  one  of  the  regular  mountain  guides  ; 
and  besides,  there  was  a  track  in  the  sand,  show- 
ing that  other  parties  had  gone  down  before. 
So  he  said  that  Rollo  and  Josie  might  go. 

"  You  may  go  down  with  this  party,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  and  then  you  can  come  up  and  take 
care  of  Rosie  while  I  go  down  with  our 
guide." 

So  Rollo  and  Josie  followed  the  two  young 
men  down.  Mr.  George  watched  them  from 
above.  They  went  down  very  easily,  for  the  sand 
was  soft,  and  the  track  turned  this  way  and  that, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  steepest  places.  The  black 
lava  covered  the  whole  floor  of  the  crater,  and 
Mr.  George  and  Rosie  supposed  that  those  who 
had  gone  down  would  be  able  only  to  go  to  the 
edge  of  it ;  but,  to  their  great  surprise,  they  found 
that  the  guide,  as  soon  as  he  reached  it,  stepped 
upon  it,  and  walked  boldly  out,  followed  by  the 
young  men  and  by  Rollo  and  Josie,  like  a  party 
of  boys  walking  out  upon  the  ice  on  a  pond. 

"  Why,  uncle  George !  "  exclaimed  Rosie,  "  they 
are  walking  over  the  lava.  Why  don't  they 
sink  in  ?  " 


144  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  boys  walk  out  upon  the  bed  of  lava. 

"  I  cannot  imagine,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I 
supposed  it  was  soft.'7 

In  fact,  it  was  soft ;  that  is,  it  was  soft  enough 
to  flow  if  it  had  been  on  a  slope,  but  yet  it  was 
hard  enough  to  walk  upon.  A  current  of  lava, 
when  it  is  coining  down  the  mountain  side,  can 
often  be  walked  upon  while  it  is  still  in  motion. 
Its  fluidity  at  the  best  is  very  imperfect,  and  its 
motion  is  very  slow.  The  lava  which  Rollo  was 
upon  in  the  floor  of  the  crater,  though  pretty 
nearly  cool  and  hard  on  the  surface,  was  hot  be- 
low. Rollo  could  see  the  redness  of  the  heat  in 
the  holes  and  crevices.  Probably,  if  a  heavy 
stone  were  laid  upon  the  bed  of  lava,  it  would 
gradually  have  sunk  into  it.  And  yet  persons 
could  walk  over  it  without  any  difficulty. 

Rollo  and  Josie  followed  the  }Toung  men  over 
the  lava  until  they  came  so  near  the  cone  in  the 
centre  that  if  they  were  to  advance  farther  they 
would  be  in  danger  of  having  the  lava  which 
was  thrown  up  from  it  fall  upon  their  heads. 
Here  they  found  some  boys,  who  belonged  to  the 
mountain,  engaged  in  getting  out  small  pieces 
of  the  lava,  where  it  was  hot  and  soft,  and  press- 
ing coins  into  it,  to  sell  to  the  people  above. 
Rollo  and  Josie  bought  some  of  these  specimens 
of  the  boys,  and  put  them  hot  in  their  pockets. 

While  the  boys  were  thus  near  the  cone  in  the 


The   Summit.  145 

Mr.  George  depends  upon  the  judgment  of  the  guides. 

centre  of  the  crater,  they  were  sometimes  lost  to 
view  from  Mr.  George  and  Rosie,  on  account  of 
the  puffs  of  vapor  which  the  wind  blew  over 
them.  Rosie  was  very  much  afraid  whenever 
this  happened.  She  thought  that  Josie  and 
Rollo  were  lost ;  but  Mr.  George  assured  her 
that  there  was  no  danger. 

"  I  should  think  there  would  be  a  great  deal 
of  danger,"  said  she. 

"  So  should  I,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  of  my  own 
judgment.  But  I  do  not  go  by  my  own  judgment 
in  such  cases." 

"  Whose  judgment  do  you  go  by  ? "  asked 
Rosie. 

"  By  the  guides',"  replied  Mr.  George.  "  The 
guides  know  all  about  the  mountain.  They  are 
up  here  every  day.  They  have  been  watching  it 
for  years,  and  they  can  tell  where  it  is  safe  to  go, 
and  where  it  is  dangerous,  better  than  any  stran- 
ger. So  I  give  up  my  judgment  entirely,  and  go 
altogether  by  theirs.  You  will  see  Rollo  and  Jo- 
sie coming  back  out  of  the  smoke  pretty  soon, 
as  safe  as  they  went  in." 

This  prediction  proved  to  be  true.  In  a  few 
minutes,  on  account  of  some  change  in  the  gusts 
of  wind,  the  masses  of  vapor  in  the  crater  broke 
into  openings,  and  rolled  off  towards  the  other 
side,  and  in  the  openings  Rofic   codd  see  the 


146  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Rosie  does  not  wish  to  go  down. 

boys  coming  back  over  the  black  surface  of  the 
lava,  their  footsteps  making  a  curious  sound  upon 
it,  as  if  they  were  walking  over  clinkers.  Very 
soon  they  reached  the  side,  and  then  came  toiling 
up  the  path  which  ascended  the  slope  of  sand. 

Rollo  and  Josie  were  both  full  of  enthusiasm 
in  describing  what  they  had  seen  at  the  bottom 
of  the  crater,  and  near  the  cone,  and  they 
strongly  recommended  to  Rosie  to  go  down  too. 

"  I'll  go  with  you,  Rosie,"  said  Josie,  "  and 
show  you  the  way." 

But  Rosie  declined  the  adventure,  and  Mr. 
George  told  her  that  she  did  right  to  do  so. 

"Why,  what  is  there  to  be  afraid  of?"  asked 
Josie.  "There  is  no  danger  —  not  the  least  in 
the  world." 

"  True,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  but  going  into  such 
places  does  not  give  so  much  pleasure  to  young 
ladies  as  it  does  to  such  courageous  young  gentle- 
men as  you.  But  I  wish  to  go  down  myself,  and 
I  will  leave  Rosie  under  your  care  here  while  I 
am  gone." 

Pretty  near  where  the  party  stood  while  en- 
gaged in  this  conversation,  several  persons  were 
gathered  about  what  seemed  to  be  a  fire.  A  sort 
of  smoke  came  up  from  the  ground  in  the  centre  of 
the  group,  and  by  the  side  of  it  were  one  or  two  bas- 
kets containing  eggs,  bread,  bottles  of  wine,  and 


The   Summit.  147 

Cooking  by  volcanic  beat.  The  eggs. 

other  refreshments.  Mr.  George  led  the  way  to 
this  place,  and  then  he  found  that  what  seemed 
to  be  a  fire  was  really  a  jet  of  hot  steam  and 
sulphurous  gases  that  was  issuing  from  a  cleft 
among  the  rocks.  The  place  was  very  near  the 
crest  of  the  crater,  and  the  people  that  stood 
around  it  were  watching  to  see  men  cook  in  the 
jets  of  steam.  There  was  a  little  level  place 
inside  the  crevice,  just  beneath  the  ground,  where 
they  could  put  eggs  and  other  such  things,  and 
after  leaving  them  there  a  short  time,  they  were 
found  to  be  nicely  cooked.  As  fast  as  they  were 
done,  the  men  took  them  out  and  sold  them 
to  the  bystanders. 

Mr.  George  left  Rosie  and  the  two  boys  here 
while  he  went  down  into  the  crater.  The  guide 
went  with  him  to  show  him  the  way.  In  about 
ten  minutes  Mr.  George  returned,  and  found  the 
three  children  standing  round  the  cuisine,  as  the 
men  called  the  place  where  they  cooked.  Rollo 
had  been  buying  some  of  the  eggs,  and  he  and 
Josie  and  Rosie  were  eating  them. 

"  Mr.  George,"  said  Josie,  "  are  these  boiled 
eggs,  or  baked  eggs,  or  roasted  eggs,  or  what  ?  " 

"  They  seem  to  be  steamed  eggs,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  by  digging  about 
here  in  the  sand,  we  might  find  a  place  where  it 
would  be  just  warm  enough  to  hatch  eggs." 


148  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  two  students  and  their  instrument. 

"  No  doubt,"  said  Mr.  George. 

Just  then  Rollo  observed  that  the  two  young 
men  whom  he  and  Josie  had  followed  down  into 
the  crater  were  standing  at  a  little  distance,  and 
attentively  regarding  some  sort  of  instrument 
which  they  had  in  their  hands. 

"  I  mean  to  go  and  see  what  they  are  doing/' 
said  Rollo. 

So  saying,  he  looked  into  Mr.  George's  face, 
and  waited  to  see  if  Mr.  George  had  any  objec- 
tion to  his  going. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George. 

So  Rollo  went  off  to  the  place  where  the 
young  men  were  standing,  and  soon  afterwards 
Mr.  George  and  the  others  of  the  party  could 
see  that  the  strangers  were  showing  him  the  in- 
strument, and  apparently  explaining  it  to  him. 
Pretty  soon  Rollo  returned  and  reported  that  the 
two  young  men  were  students,  and  that  the  in- 
strument which  they  had  was  a  metallic  barome- 
ter, and  that  they  were  measuring  the  height  of 
the  mountain  with  it. 

This  metallic  barometer  is  quite  a  curious  in- 
strument. You  will  often  read,  in  books,  of 
measuring  the  height  of  a  mountain,  or  other 
lofty  place,  by  the  barometer  ;  and  to  most  people 
this  is  quite  a  mystery.  The  explanation  of  it  is, 
however,  very  simple.  It  is  this  :  The  earth  is 
surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  atmosphere,  which, 


The  Summit.  149 


Explanations  in  respect  to  the  barometer. 


though  very  light,  has  a  certain  weight,  and  it 
presses  with  considerable  force  upon  the  ground, 
and  upon  every  thing  that  is  exposed  to  it.  If, 
however,  you  go  up  from  the  ground,  as,  for 
instance,  when  you  ascend  a  mountain,  the  high- 
er you  go,  the  less  the  pressure  is.  This  is 
naturally  to  be  expected,  for  the  higher  you  go  in 
such  a  case,  the  less  air  there  is  above  you  to 
press.  Now,  a  barometer  is  an  instrument  to 
measure  the  pressure  of  the  air,  just  as  a  ther- 
mometer measures  the  heat  or  coldness  of  it. 
A  metallic  barometer  is  a  new  kind,  in  which  the 
air  presses  on  a  curiously  contrived  ring  or  band 
of  brass,  and  according  as  it  presses  more  or  less, 
it  moves  an  index  like  the  hand  of  a  watch,  which 
is  placed  on  the  face  of  it.  It  was  such  an  instru- 
ment as  this  that  the  two  students  had,  on  Vesuvius. 
The  way  in  which  you  use  such  an  instrument 
to  measure  the  height  of  a  mountain  is  this  :  You 
look  at  the  instrument  when  you  are  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  mountain,  before  you  begin  your  as- 
cent, and  see  how  it  stands.  There  is  a  little 
index  like  the  hour  hand  of  a  watch,  which  is 
movable.  This  you  set  at  the  point  where  the 
other  index  stands  when  you  are  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain.  Then  you  begin  your  ascent. 
You  shut  up  your  barometer  if  you  please,  and 
put  it  in  your  knapsack,  or  in  the  chaise  box,  or 


150  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mode  of  measuring  the  heights  of  mountains  with  it. 

any  where  else  you  please.  Wherever  you  put 
it,  the  pressure  of  the  air  will  find  it  out,  and 
penetrate  to  it,  and  as  you  gradually  rise  from 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  the  index,  which  is  con- 
nected with  the  curious  brass  ring,  moves  slowly 
backward  as  the  pressure  diminishes.  This  mo- 
tion continues  as  long  as  you  continue  ascending. 
If  you  come  to  a  les*ei  place,  it  remains  station- 
ary as  long  as  the  level  continues.  If  you  de- 
scend, it  goes  forward  a  little,  and  then  begins  to 
go  back  again  as  soon  as  you  once  more  begin  to 
ascend.  Then,  when  you  get  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain, you  look  at  it,  and  you  see  at  once  how 
much  the  pressure  of  the  air  has  diminished. 
From  this,  by  an  easy  calculation,  you  tell  at 
once  how  high  you  have  come. 

Mr.  George  knew  all  about  the  barometer, 
and  the  means  of  measuring  heights  with  it, 
though  he  had  never  seen  an  instrument  of  this 
particular  kind.  He  was  accordingly  very  much 
interested  in  Hollo's  account  of  it,  and  he  said 
he  had  a  great  mind  to  go  and  see  it  himself. 

"  I  wish  you  would,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  told  them 
that  I  thought  you  would  like  to  see  it,  and  they 
said  that  they  should  be  very  happy  to  show  it 
to  you." 

Mr.  George  accordingly  went  to  see  the  instru- 
ment, and  the  students  gave  him  so  cordial  a 


The  Summit.  151 

The  proposal  of  the  students.  Mr.  George's  decision. 

reception,  that  he  formed  at  once  quite  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  them.  Indeed  they  were 
quite  pleased  to  find  a  person  on  the  mountain 
who  sympathized  with  them  in  their  scientific 
inquiries  and  pursuits,  and  was  capable  of  under- 
standing and  appreciating  them.  They  told  Mr. 
George  that  they  were  going  to  remain  on  the 
mountain  until  after  dark,  in  order  to  see  it  in 
its  night  aspects,  and  they  invited  him  to  remain 
with  them. 

"  Then  to-morrow,"  said  they,  "  we  are  going 
across  the  mountain  down  through  the  back  ra- 
vines, to  study  the  geological  structure  of  the 
old  lava  beds,  and  so  come  out  at  Pompeii." 

Mr.  George  said  there  could  be  nothing  that  he 
should  enjoy  more,  were  it  not  that  he  had  ladies 
under  his  charge,  and  that  he  felt  bound  to  ac- 
company them  back  to  Naples. 

Rollo,  when  he  heard  this  invitation,  immedi- 
ately felt  a  strong  desire  that  Mr.  George  should 
go,  and  that  he  might  go  too.  He  instantly  per- 
ceived, however,  that  this  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion ;  but  he  thought  that  by  cordially  falling  in 
with  the  plan  of  allowing  Mr.  George  to  go,  he 
might,  perhaps,  be  the  means  of  accomplishing 
it.  Many  boys,  in  such  a  case,  when  they  find 
that  a  plan  of  enjoyment  that  is  proposed  is  one 
which  they  cannot  themselves  share,  do  all  they 


152  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Rollo's  cooperation.  He  offers  to  take  care  of  Ko?ie. 

can  to  hinder  and  oppose  it  altogether.  But  Rol- 
lo had  now  travelled  about  the  world  so  much, 
and  had  acquired  so  much  experience,  that  he 
was  above  such  folly  as  this. 

"  Uncle  George,"  said  he,  "  you  can  go  just  as 
well  as  not.  I  can  take  care  of  Rosie  down  the 
mountain  to  the  Hermitage,  and  then  we  shall 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  get  into  the  carriage 
and  ride  home." 

Mr.  George  saw  at  once  how  generous  it  was 
in  Rollo  to  make  this  offer,  and  he  said  he  would 
so  far  accept  it  as  to  let  Rollo  take  charge  of  the 
party  going  home  from  the  Hermitage  in  the  car- 
riage ;  but  he  felt  bound,  he  said,  not  to  leave  Rosie 
until  he  had  returned  her  safe  to  her  mother's 
nands.     So  he  said  to  the  students, — 

"  I  will  go  down  the  cone  with  Rosie  and  the 
two  boys,  and  accompany  them  as  far  as  the  Her- 
mitage. There  I  shall  find  Mrs.  Gray  and  the 
carriage.  If  Mrs.  Gray  seems  cordially  willing 
to  go  home  with  the  children  alone,  I  will  come 
back  here  and  join  you  ;  but  if  I  find  she  does 
not  seem  entirely  willing,  —  if  she  looks  sober 
about  it,  —  then  I  will  go  back  to  Naples  ; 
though  in  that  case  I  shall  come  to  Pompeii  to- 
morrow, and  shall  hope  to  meet  you  there." 

"  I  hope  the  lady  will  be  willing  to  release 
you,"  said  one  of  the  students. 


COMING    DOWN. 


The   Summit.  155 

Mr.  George  descends  to  the  Hermitage. 

"  I  have  but  little  doubt  that  she  will,"  said 
Mr.  George. 

Accordingly,  after  rambling  about  on  the  mar- 
gin of  the  crater  a  little  time  longer,  and  gather- 
ing all  the  specimens  which  they  required,  Mr. 
George  and  the  children  commenced  their  de- 
scent. One  of  the  students  went  down  with 
them,  in  order  to  accompany  Mr.  George  back. 
The  descent  was  very  easy,  for  the  path  led  down 
a  slope,  where,  instead  of  being  rocky  as  it  was 
where  they  came  up,  there  was  little  else  but 
loose  sand,  so  that  at  every  step  they  took  they 
slid  down  a  great  way,  and  thus  went,  very  fast 
and  very  easily,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom. 

When  they  reached  the  foot  of  the  slope,  they 
found  the  mules  and  donkeys  there.  Rollo  and 
Josie  insisted  that  Mr.  George  and  the  student 
should  ride,  because  they  had  got  to  ascend  the 
cone  again. 

"Besides,"  said  Rollo,  "  if  you  ride  you  can 
get  there  quicker,  and  arrange  the  business  with 
Mrs.  Gray." 

Mr.  George  was  right  in  anticipating  that  Mrs. 
Gray  would  give  her  cordial  consent  to  have 
him  leave  the  party. 

"  I  shall  miss  your  company,"  said  she,  "  but  I 
feel  perfectly  safe  in  going  home  in  the  carriage 
with  Philippe  and  the   boys.     Besides,  I   shall 


156  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Return  of  the  party  to  Naples. 

want  to  hear  an  account  of  your  adventures  on 
the  mountain  in  the  night,  and  in  crossing  over 
by  the  ravines  to-morrow.  And  then  if  you  are 
willing,"  she  added,  "  we  will  all  come  and  meet 
you  at  Pompeii  to-morrow." 

"  I  should  like  that  very  much  indeed,"  said 
Mr.  George.  "  Philippe  will  arrange  every  thing 
for  you." 

This  being  all  settled,  Mrs.  Gray  and  the 
children  entered  the  carriage  and  set  out  for 
Naples,  while  Mr.  George  and  the  student  turned 
their  faces  towards  the  mountain  again. 


Pompeii.  157 

Rollo  brings  bad  news  about  Philippe. 


Chapter  VIII. 
Pompeii. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  the  ex- 
cursion to  Vesuvius  was  made,  Rollo  came  into 
Mrs.  Gray's  room,  wearing  a  somewhat  disturbed 
countenance.  He  told  Mrs.  Gray  that  he  had 
got  some  bad  news  for  her. 

"  Ah,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  I'm  sorry  to  hear  that. 
What  is  the  bad  news  ?  " 

"  Philippe  is  engaged  for  to-morrow,"  said 
Rollo,  "and so  he  cannot  go  with  us  to  Pompeii." 

"0,  how  sorry  I  am!"  said  Josie.  "What 
shall  we  do  ?  " 

"  How  is  he  engaged  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  He  is  going  with  a  party  to  Baiaa." 

"  Where  is  Baias  ?  "  asked  Josie.  "  Is  it  any 
where  near  Pompeii  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  it  is  exactly  in  the  opposite 
direction.  It  is  on  the  sea  coast  to  the  west,  and 
Pompeii  is  on  the  sea  coast  to  the  east." 

"  What  is  there  to  be  seen  at  Baiae  ? "  asked 
Mrs.  Gray. 


158  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Rollo  proposes  to  conduct  the  party  to  Pompeii. 

"  Nothing  but  old  ruins,"  said  Rollo,  contempt- 
uously. "  I  don't  see  why  people  should  want  to 
go  so  far,  and  take  away  our  guide,  just  to  see  old 
ruins.  Besides,  there  are  plenty  of  old  ruins  at 
Pompeii. 

"  But,  Mrs.  Gray,"  continued  Rollo,  "  I  don't 
think  we  need  any  guide  at  all  to  go  to  Pompeii. 
We  can  go  by  ourselves." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Gray. 

"  Why,  you  see  I  can  engage  a  carriage  to  take 
us  there  myself,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  shall  say  '  Pom- 
peii !  '  to  the  coachman,  and  point  that  way.  And 
when  we  get  to  Pompeii,  we  shall  find  uncle 
George  there,  and  then  we  shall  get  along  well 
enough." 

"True,"  said  Mrs.  Gray.  "But  then,"  she 
added,  after  thinking  a  moment,  "perhaps  we 
might  miss  Mr.  George,  after  all.  I  don't  know 
how  large  a  place  it  is.  If  it  is  a  large  place, 
we  might  miss  him  in  some  of  the  streets." 

Here  Rosie  opened  a  guide  book  which  lay 
upon  the  table,  and  turned  to  a  map  of  Pompeii 
which  she  recollected  to  have  seen  there.  Her 
hope  was  to  find  that  there  were  not  many  streets, 
and  thus  to  show  that  there  would  not  be  much 
danger  of  missing  Mr.  George.  She  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  plan  of  the  town  looked  quite 
complicated.     There  was  a  long  street,  called  the 


Pompeii.  159 

Difference  of  condition  between  Herculaneum  and  I'ompeii. 

Street  of  the  Tombs,  leading  into  it ;  and  then 
within  the  walls  there  were  a  great  many  other 
streets,  crossing  each  other,  and  running  in  all 
directions.  So  she  shut  the  book,  and  did  not 
say  a  word,  thinking  that  the  sight  of  the  plan 
would  impede,  rather  than  promote,  the  accept- 
ance of  Rollo's  proposal. 

"  I  don't  think  there  are  a  great  many  streets," 
said  Rollo.  "  There  were  none  at  all  at  Hercu- 
laneum." 

"  Ah,  but  Herculaneum  is  a  very  different 
thing,"  said  Mrs.  Gray.  "  Herculaneum  was 
buried  up  very  deep  with  solid  lava,  and  only  a 
very  small  portion  of  it  has  been  explored,  and 
that  you  go  down  into  as  you  would  into  a  cellar 
or  a  mine.  Pompeii  was  but  just  covered,  and 
that  only  with  sand  and  ashes  ;  and  the  sand  and 
ashes  have  all  been  dug  out  and  carted  off  from 
a  large  part  of  the  city,  so  as  to  bring  the  whole 
out  in  the  open  day." 

"  Then  it  will  be  a  great  deal  pleasanter  place 
to  visit,"  said  Rosie. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  and  I  don't  think 
that  there  will  be  much  danger  in  our  going  by 
ourselves.  If  we  don't  find  Mr.  George,  we  can 
walk  about  a  while,  and  then  come  back  in  the 
carriage  again." 

"We  might  go  by  the  railroad  if  we  chose," 


160  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Final  arrangement.  Neapolitan  carriages.  The  coachmen. 

said  Rollo.  "  There  is  a  railroad  that  runs  along 
the  coast,  and  passes  very  near  Pompeii." 

"  I  think  we  had  better  take  a  carriage,"  said 
Mrs.  Gray,  "  because  a  carriage  will  take  us  and 
leave  us  wherever  we  wish.  There  will  be  more 
changes  if  we  go  by  the  railroad,  and  we  should 
need  to  speak  more." 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  party  should  go, 
and  Rollo  and  Josie  were  to  have  a  carriage 
ready  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning.  They 
were  all  to  breakfast  at  eight  o'clock. 

Now  it  happens  there  is  no  difficulty  in  get- 
ting a  carriage  at  Naples.  The  streets  are  full 
of  them.  They  are  very  pretty  carriages  too,  as 
they  are  seen  standing  in  pleasant  weather,  with 
the  tops  turned  back,  showing  the  soft  cush- 
ions on  the  seats  that  look  so  inviting.  The 
coachmen  who  drive  these  carriages  are  very 
eager  to  get  customers.  They  watch  at  the  doors 
of  the  hotels,  and  every  where,  indeed,  along  the 
streets,  and  whenever  they  see  a  lady  and  gentle- 
man coming,  they  drive  forward  to  meet  them, 
and  call  out  to  offer  them  the  carriage  ;  and  some- 
times they  go  along  for  some  distance  by  the  side 
of  the  strangers,  trying  to  induce  them  to  get  in. 

Some  of  these  carriages  have  two  horses,  and 
contain  a  front  and  a  back  seat.  Others  have 
only  one  horse,  and  only  a  back  seat  ;  but  they 


Pompeii.  161 

Breakfast  in  the  public  room.  Hollo  and  Josie  go  for  a  carriage. 

all  look  very  nice  and  tidy,  and  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  them  is  quite  low. 

The  party  all  breakfasted  together  the  next 
morning,  and  they  went  down  into  the  dining 
room  for  their  breakfast,  instead  of  taking  it  in 
Mrs.  Gray's  room.  They  did  this  at  the  request 
of  the  boys,  who  said  it  was  more  amusing  to  go 
into  the  public  room  and  see  the  different  parties 
that  came  in  for  early  breakfasts,  and  hear  them 
talk,  in  various  languages,  of  the  different  excur- 
sions that  they  are  going  to  make  that  day. 

At  about  a  quarter  before  nine,  Rollo  and 
Josie  went  out  to  look  for  a  carriage.  Rollo 
stopped  at  the  office  of  the  hotel  in  going  out, 
and  inquired  of  the  secretary  how  much  ought 
to  be  paid  for  a  carriage  with  two  horses  to 
go  to  Pompeii.  The  secretary  told  him  three 
dollars. 

He  and  Josie  then  went  out  into  the  street. 
There  was  a  long  row  of  carriages,  some  with 
two  horses  and  some  with  one,  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  street  opposite  to  the  hotel.  The 
coachmen  of  all  these  carriages,  as  soon  as  they 
saw  the  boys  come  out,  began  immediately  to  call 
out  to  them,  and  crack  their  whips,  and  make  other 
such  demonstrations  to  attract  their  attention. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo  to  Josie,  "  we  must  walk 
along  carelessly,  and  not  appear  to  look  at  the 
11 


162  Rollo  in  Naples. 

They  make  a  bargain  with  the  coachman  by  signs. 

carriages  as  if  we  wanted  one  ;  for  if  we  do, 
they  will  come  driving  towards  us  in  a  body. 
We  will  walk  along  quietly  till  we  come  to  a 
nice  carriage  and  a  first  rate  pair  of  horses,  and 
then  we'll  go  right  up  to  the  coachman  and 
engage  him." 

This  the  boys  did.  They  sauntered  along 
with  a  careless  air,  concealing  the  desire  they 
had  to  engage  a  carriage,  until  at  last  they  came 
to  one  which  Rollo  thought  would  do.  The  in- 
stant the  boys  stopped  before  this  carriage,  the 
coachman  jumped  down  from  his  box,  and  began 
to  open  the  carriage  door  for  them,  and  at  the 
same  time  all  the  other  coachmen  in  the  line  be- 
gan cracking  their  whips,  and  calling  out  to 
the  boys  again  to  come  and  take  their  carriages. 
Rollo  paid  no  attention  to  them,  but  addressed 
the  coachman  of  the  carriage  which  he  had 
selected,  and  said  in  French,  "  To  Pompeii." 

"  Si,  signore,  si,  signore,"  said  the  coachman, 
which  Rollo  knew  very  well  meant  "Yes,  sir, 
yes,  sir."  At  the  same  time  the  coachman  made 
eager  gestures  for  the  boys  to  get  in. 

But  Rollo  would  not  get  in,  but  waited  to 
make  his  bargain  about  the  price. 

"  Quanto  ?  "  said  he.  Quanto  is  the  Italian 
word  for  how  much.  In  saying  Quanto,  Rollo 
held  up  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand,  to  denote  to 


Pompeii.  163 

The  coachmau  demands  four  dollars.  Rollo  offers  three. 

the  coachman  that  he  was  to  show  him  by  his 
fingers  how  many  piastres. 

The  coachman  said  four,  speaking  in  Italian, 
and  at  the  same  time  held  up  four  fingers. 

"No,"  said  Rollo,  "three."  And  Rollo  held 
up  three  fingers. 

The  coachman  seemed  to  hesitate  a  moment ; 
but  when  he  saw  that  the  boys  were  ready  to  go 
away  and  apply  for  another  carriage  unless  he 
would  take  them  for  the  regular  and  proper 
price,  he  said,  "Si,  signore" again,  and  once  more 
motioned  for  the  boys  to  get  in.  So  they  got  in, 
and  the  coachman  drove  to  the  hotel  door. 

Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  were  all  ready,  and  when 
they  came  to  see  the  carriage  which  the  boys  had 
chosen  for  them,  they  were  very  much  pleased 
with  it. 

"  I  don't  see  but  that  you  can  manage  the 
business,  Rollo,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "as  well  as  any 
courier  or  valet  de  place  that  we  could  have." 

"How  could  you  make  him  understand  what 
you  wanted,  without  speaking  Italian  ?  "  asked 
Rosie. 

"  I  did  it  partly  by  signs,"  said  Rollo. 

The  road  to  Pompeii,  for  the  first  few  miles, 
was  the  same  with  the  one  to  Vesuvius,  which 
they  had  taken  the  day  before.  It  led  first 
through  the  busiest  part  of  Naples,  along  by  the 


164  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Beginning  of  the  ride.  Streams  of  ancient  lava. 

docks  and  the  shipping,  and  then  through  the 
series  of  towns  and  villages  which  line  the  shore 
of  the  bay,  at  the  foot  of  the  slopes  of  Vesuvius. 
After  passing  in  this  manner  through  one  contin- 
ued street  for  five  or  six  miles,  the  road  came 
out  more  into  the  open  country,  where  fine  views 
were  had  of  the  mountain  on  one  side,  and  of  the 
bay  on  the  other.  The  mountain  sides  were 
generally  extremely  fertile,  being  covered  with 
vineyards  and  groves,  though  here  and  there 
were  to  be  seen  the  streams  of  lava  which  had 
come  down  within  a  few  hundred  years,  and 
which  had  not  yet  become  disintegrated  and  con- 
verted into  soil.  These  streams  of  lava  looked 
like  torrents  of  brown  water  suddenly  turned 
into  stone,  as  they  came  streaming  down  the 
mountain  side. 

In  one  place,  one  of  these  streams  of  lava 
passed  under  a  town.  That  is  to  say,  such  was 
the  appearance.  The  fact  was,  really,  that  the 
lava  had  destroyed  the  part  of  the  town  that 
came  in  its  way,  and  the  people  had  built  up  their 
houses  again  on  the  top  of  it.  The  lava  was  cut 
down  a  little  in  making  the  road,  so  that  you 
could  see  at  the  road  side  a  portion  of  the  stream, 
"with  the  houses  upon  it. 

After  riding  on  in  this  way  two  or  three  hours, 
the  carriage  stopped  at  a  very  pleasant  place, 


Pompeii.  165 

The  party  arrive  at  Pompeii.  Guides  at  the  gate. 

among  vineyards  and  mulberry  groves,  at  the 
entrance  of  a  pretty  lane,  which  led  to  the  gates 
of  Pompeii. 

"  Now,"  said  Rosie,  "  our  difficulties  are  going 
to  begin.  I  don't  see  how  we  are  going  to  know 
where  to  look  for  Mr.  George." 

"  We  will  see,"  said  Mrs.  Gray. 

The  coachman  opened  the  door,  and  all  the 
party  got  out.  Just  then  they  saw  at  a  short 
distance  before  them,  where  there  was  a  sort  of 
gate,  several  men  in  a  species  of  uniform,  which 
denoted  that  they  were  the  persons  appointed 
by  the  government  to  take  charge  of  the  place, 
and  to  show  it  to  visitors.  One  of  these  men,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  the  party,  seemed  to  look  very 
much  pleased,  and  he  advanced  to  meet  them  with 
a  smiling  face.  At  the  same  time  he  said  some- 
thing to  a  boy  who  was  near  by,  and  the  boy  ran 
off  into  the  town.  The  young  man  in  uniform, 
when  he  came  near  to  Mrs.  Gray,  said  something 
which  at  first  she  could  not  understand,  but  which 
she  soon  perceived  was  an  attempt  to  pronounce 
the  words,  11  Signore  Holiday. 

"  Ah  !  he  has  seen  Mr.  George,"  said  Mrs.  Gray. 
"  Mr.  George  has  been  here,  and  has  told  him  to 
watch  for  us." 

This  supposition  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Gray  was 
correct.     Mr.  George  had  come  early  with  the 


166  Rollo  in  Naples. 

They  find  Mr.  George.  State  of  the  town. 

students  to  Pompeii,  in  order  to  be  ready  there  to 
receive  Mrs.  Gray  and  her  party,  and  he  had  sta- 
tioned this  man  at  the  gate  to  watch  for  them, 
with  directions  to  send  the  boy  in  for  him  at  an 
appointed  place,  as  soon  as  they  should  ar- 
rive. The  boy  soon  found  Mr.  George,  and  he 
came  immediately  back  to  the  gate.  Of  course 
the  whole  party  were  very  much  pleased  to  see 
him. 

"  And  yet,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  Eollo  has  man- 
aged so  well  that  I  should  not  have  felt  any  anx- 
iety if  we  had  continued  under  his  sole  charge 
all  day." 

The  party  now  commenced  their  exploration 
of  Pompeii.  They  found  it,  as  they  had  expected, 
all  open  to  the  day.  A  great  many  of  the  streets, 
with  all  the  houses  bordering  them,  had  been 
cleared,  and  all  the  sand  and  gravel  under  which 
they  had  been  buried  had  been  carted  away. 
Immense  heaps  of  this  rubbish  were  lying  outside 
the  entrance,  and  the  party  had  passed  them  in 
the  carriage  on  their  approach  to  the  town. 
They  had  been  lying  there  so  long,  however,  that 
they  were  covered  with  grass  and  small  trees, 
and  they  looked  like  great  railroad  embank- 
ments. 

Indeed,  the  appearance  which  Pompeii  presents 
now  is  that  of  a  large  open  village  of  ruined  and 


Pompeii.  167 

Structure  of  the  houses  iu  Pompeii.  No  chimneys. 

roofless  one-storied  bouses.  Many  of  the  houses 
were  originally  two  stories  high,  it  is  true ;  but 
the  upper  stories  have  been  destroyed  or  shaken 
down,  and  in  general  it  is  the  lower  story  only 
that  now  remains. 

The  structure  of  the  houses,  in  respect  to  plan 
and  general  arrangement,  is  very  different  from 
that  of  the  dwellings  built  in  our  towns  at  the 
present  day.  The  chief  reasons  for  the  differ- 
ence arise  from  the  absence  of  windows  and 
chimneys  in  the  houses  of  the  ancients,  and  of 
course  the  leaving  out  of  wiudows  and  chimneys 
in  a  house  makes  it  necessary  to  change  every 
thing. 

The  inhabitants  of  Pompeii  had  no  chimneys, 
because  the  climate  there  is  so  mild  that  they 
seldom  needed  a  fire  ;  and  when  they  did  need 
one,  it  was  easier  to  make  a  small  one  in  an  open 
vessel,  and  let  it  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  room, 
or  wherever  it  was  required,  than  to  make  a 
chimney  and  a  fireplace.  The  open  pan  in  which 
the  fires  were  made  in  those  days  stood  on  legs, 
and  could  be  moved  about  any  where.  The 
fire  was  made  of  small  twigs  cut  from  the  trees. 
The  people  would  let  the  pan  stand  in  the  open 
air  until  the  twigs  were  burnt  to  coal,  and 
then  they  would  carry  the  pan,  with  the  embers 
still  glowing,  into  the  room  which  they  wished 


168  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mode  of  warming  the  rooms.  No  windows. 

to  warm,  and  place  it  wherever  it  was  re- 
quired. 

The  same  contrivance  is  used  at  the  present 
day  in  Naples,  and  in  all  the  towns  of  that  re- 
gion. In  going*  along  the  streets  in  a  cool  even- 
ing or  morning,  you  will  often  see  one  of  these 
brass  pans  before  a  door,  with  a  little  fire  blazing 
in  it,  and  children  or  other  persons  before  it, 
warming  their  hands.  Afterwards,  if  you  watch, 
you  will  see  that  the  people  take  it  into  the 
house. 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Pompeii  depended 
entirely  on  arrangements  like  these  for  warm- 
ing their  rooms.  There  is  not  a  chimney  to  be 
found  in  the  whole  town. 

In  respect  to  windows,  the  reason  why  they 
did  not  have  them  was  because  they  had  no  glass 
to  put  into  them.  They  could  not  make  glass 
in  those  days  well  enough  and  easily  enough  to 
use  it  for  windows.  Of  course  they  had  open- 
ings in  their  houses  to  admit  the  air  and  the 
light,  and  these  openings  might  perhaps  be  called 
windows.  But  in  order  to  prevent  the  wind  and 
rain  from  coming  in,  it  was  necessary  to  have 
them  placed  in  sheltered  situations,  as,  for  exam- 
ple, under  porticos  and  piazzas.  The  custom 
therefore  arose  of  having  a  great  many  porticos 
in  the  houses,  with  rooms  opening  from  them  ; 


Pompeii.  1G9 

Porticos  and  piazzas.  The  impluvium.  Interiors  of  the  houses. 

and  in  order  that  they  might  not  be  too  much  ex- 
posed, they  were  generally  made  so  as  to  have 
the  open  side  of  them  inwards,  towards  the  cen- 
tre of  the  house,  where  a  small,  square  place  was 
left,  without  a  roof  over  it,  to  admit  the  light 
and  air. 

Of  course  the  rain  would  come  in  through  this 
open  space,  and  the  floor  of  it  was  generally 
formed  into  a  square  marble  basin,  to  receive  the 
water.  This  was  called  the  impluvium.  Some- 
times there  was  a  fountain  in  the  centre  of  the 
impluvium,  and  all  around  it  were  the  porticos, 
within  and  under  which  were  the  doors  opening 
into  the  different  rooms. 

The  guide,  who  conducted  Mr.  George  and  his 
party,  led  them  into  several  of  these  houses,  and 
every  one  was  much  interested  in  examining  the 
arrangement  of  the  rooms,  and  in  imagining  how 
the  people  looked  in  going  in  and  out,  and  in 
living  in  them.  The  bed  rooms  were  extremely 
small.  The  walls  of  some  of  them  were  beauti- 
fully painted,  but  the  rooms  themselves  were  often 
not  much  bigger  than  a  state  room  in  a  steamship. 
The  bedstead  was  a  sort  of  berth,  formed  upon  a 
marble  shelf  built  across  from  wall  to  wall. 

In  some  of  the  houses  there  were  more  rooms 
than  could  be  arranged  around  one  court ;  and  in 
such  cases  there  were  two,  and  sometimes  three 


170  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Subterranean  passage  beneath  a  portico. 

courts.  In  one  case,  the  third  court  was  a  gar- 
den, with  a  beautiful  portico  formed  of  ornamental 
columns  all  around  it.  Beneath  this  portico  the 
ladies  of  the  house,  in  rainy  weather,  could  walk 
at  their  ease,  and  see  the  flowers  growing  in  the 
garden,  just  as  well  as  if  the  weather  were  fair. 

Under  this  portico,  all  around,  was  a  subterra- 
nean chamber,  which  seemed  to  be  used  as  a  sort 
of  cellar.  And  yet  it  was  very  neatly  finished, 
and  the  walls  of  it  were  ornamented  in  such  a 
way  as  to  lead  people  to  suppose  that  it  might 
have  been  used  as  a  cool  walk  in  warm  weather. 
This  passage  way  was  first  discovered  by  means 
of  the  steps  leading  down  to  it.  It  was  almost 
full  of  earth,  which  earth  consisted  of  volcanic 
sand  and  ashes,  which  had  flowed  into  it  in  the 
form  of  mud. 

On  one  side  of  this  subterranean  passage  way, 
near  the  entrance,  there  were  a  number  of  skele- 
tons found.  These  skeletons  were  in  a  standing: 
position  against  the  wall,  where  the  persons  had 
been  stopped  and  buried  up  by  the  mud  as  it 
flowed  in.  The  marks  left  by  the  bodies  against 
the  wall  remain  to  this  day,  and  Rollo  and  all 
the  party  saw  them. 

One  of  the  skeletons  was  that  of  a  female,  and 
there  were  a  great  many  rings  on  the  fingers  of 
the  hands,  and    bracelets,  necklaces,   and   other 


Pompeii.  171 

Few  skeletons  found.  The  faithful  sentinel.  The  streets. 

ornaments  on  the  other  bones.  From  this  cir- 
cumstance it  is  supposed  that  this  person  was  the 
wife  of  the  owner  of  the  house,  and  that  in  try- 
ing to  save  herself  and  her  jewelry  upon  her,  she 
had  fled  with  the  servants  to  this  cellar,  and 
there  had  been  overwhelmed. 

There  were  very  few  skeletons  found  in  the 
houses  of  Pompeii ;  from  which  circumstance  it  is 
supposed  that  the  inhabitants  generally  had  time 
to  escape.  There  was,  however,  one  remarkable 
case.  It  was  that  of  a  sentinel  in  his  sentry 
box,  at  the  gate  of  the  city.  He  would  not  leave 
his  post,  as  it  would  seem,  and  so  perished  at  the 
station  where  he  had  been  placed.  His  head, 
with  the  helmet  still  upon  it,  was  carried  to  the 
museum  at  Naples,  where  it  is  now  seen  by  all 
the  world,  and  every  one  who  sees  it  utters  some 
expression  of  praise  for  the  courage  and  fidelity 
which  the  poor  fellow  displayed  in  fulfilling  his 
trust. 

The  streets  of  the  town  were  narrow,  but  they 
were  paved  substantially  with  large  and  solid 
stones,  flat  at  the  top.  Along  these  streets  there 
were  a  great  many  very  curious  shops,  such  as 
barbers'  shops,  painters'  shops,  wine  shops,  and 
the  like.  The  wine  shops  were  furnished  with 
deep  jars  set  in  a  sort  of  stone  counter.  The 
jars  were  open-mouthed,  and  the  men  who  kept 


172  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  Forum.  Theatres  and  amphitheatre.  The  arena. 

the  shops  were  accustomed  apparently  to  dip 
the  wine  out  of  them,  in  selling  to  their  cus- 
tomers. 

After  passing  through  a  number  of  these 
streets,  the  party  came  at  length  to  a  great  public 
square  called  the  Forum.  This  square  was  sur- 
rounded with  the  ruins  of  temples,  and  other 
great  public  edifices.  The  columns  and  porticos 
which  bordered  the  square  are  all  now  more  or 
less  in  ruins  ;  but  there  are  still  so  many  of  them 
standing  as  to  show  exactly  what  the  forms  of 
the  buildings  must  have  been  when  they  were 
complete,  and  how  the  square  must  have  appeared. 

In  another  part  of  the  town  were  the  remains 
of  two  theatres,  and  outside  the  walls  an  im- 
mense amphitheatre,  where  were  exhibited  the 
combats  of  wild  beasts,  and  those  of  the  gladiators. 
There  are  a  great  many  ruins  of  amphitheatres 
like  this  scattered  over  Italy.  They  are  of  an 
oval  form,  and  the  seats  extend  all  around.  The 
place  where  the  combats  took  place  was  a  level 
spot  in  the  centre,  called  the  arena. 

In  viewing  these  various  ruins,  Mr.  George  and 
the  two  students  seemed  most  interested  in  the 
theatres,  and  temples,  and  other  great  public  edi- 
fices, while  Mrs.  Gray  and  the  children  seemed 
to  think  a  great  deal  more  of  the  houses  and  the 
shops.     There  was   one   baker's   shop  with    the 


Pompeii.  173 

Uteusils  and  implements.    The  museum  at  Naples.     The  return  home. 

oven  entire,  and  three  stone  hand  mills,  in  which 
the  baker  used  to  grind  his  corn.  There  were 
a  great  many  curious  utensils  and  implements 
found  in  this  shop,  when  it  was  first  excavated ; 
but  Mr.  George  said  that  they  had  all  been  re- 
moved. 

.  "  I  wish  they  had  let  them  stay  here,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  It  would  be  a  great  deal  more  interesting  to 
us  to  see  them  here,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  but  they 
would  not  have  been  safe.  The  government  has 
therefore  built  an  immense  museum  at  Naples, 
and  every  thing  that  is  movable  has  been  carried 
there.  So  we  come  here  first  to  see  the  town 
and  the  remains  of  the  shops  and  the  houses,  and 
then  afterwards  we  go  to  the  museum  at  Naples 
to  see  the  things  that  were  found  in  them." 

After  rambling  about  in  Pompeii  for  several 
hours,  the  party  went  out  by  another  gate,  where 
they  found  the  carriage  waiting  for  them,  and  so 
returned  home. 


174  Rollo   in  Naples 


Mrs.  Gray  and  the  party  propose  to  visit  the  museum. 


Chapter   IX. 
The  Museum. 

The  great  museum  at  Naples  is  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  collections  of  curiosities  in  the 
world.  It  is  contained  in  an  immense  building, 
which  is  divided  into  numerous  galleries  and 
halls,  each  of  which  is  devoted  to  some  special 
department  of  art. 

It  was  the  plan  of  our  party  to  go  and  see  the 
museum  on  the  day  after  their  visit  to  Pompeii, 
—  or  rather  to  begin  to  see  it ;  for  it  requires  a 
great  deal  more  than  one  day  even  to  walk  cur- 
sorily through  the  rooms. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  in  question,  Mrs. 
Gray  said  to  Mr.  George,  at  breakfast,  that  she 
had  a  plan  to  propose. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Mr.  George. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  not  think  it  very 
polite  in  me  to  propose  it,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "but 
it  is  this  :  that  when  we  get  into  the  museum,  we 
should  divide  into  two  parties.  Let  Rollo  go 
with  me  and  the  children,  while  you  join  your 


The  Museum.  175 

Mrs.  Gray's  proposal.  She  and  Mr.  George  debate  it. 

friends  the  students,  and  accompany  them.  Then 
we  can  go  through  the  rooms  in  our  way,  and 
you  can  go  in  yours.7' 

Mr.  George  hesitated.  For  a  moment  ho 
seemed  not  to  know  what  to  reply  to  this  pro- 
posal. 

"The  reason  is,"  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "that  the 
objects  which  you  and  the  students  will  have  in 
view  in  the  visit,  may  very  likely  be  different 
from  ours.  You  will  want  to  study  the  antiqui- 
ties, and  the  old  Latin  and  Greek  inscriptions, 
and  the  monuments  illustrating  ancient  history ; 
but  we  should  not  understand  such  things.  We 
shall  be  interested  in  the  paintings,  and  the  rings, 
and  jewels,  and  ornaments  found  in  Pompeii,  and 
in  the  household  implements  and  utensils." 

"  But  we  shall  want  to  see  all  those  things, 
too,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"True,"  replied  Mrs.  Gray  ;  "  but  you  will  not 
wish  to  devote  so  great  a  portion  of  time  to  them. 
You  will  wish  to  devote  most  of  your  time  to 
the  learned  things,  and  will  pass  rapidly  over  the 
pretty  things  and  the  curious  things,  while  with 
us  it  will  be  just  the  other  way." 

"Yes,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  will  be 
the  best  plan.  Josie  and  I  can  take  care  of  Mrs. 
Gray,  and  you  can  go  where  you  please." 

Mr.  George  seemed  at  first  quite  unwillkg  to 


176  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mr.  George  assents  at  last  to  the  proposal. 

accept  this  proposal.  He  said  he  would  go  with 
Mrs.  Gray  to  any  part  of  the  museum  that  she 
pleased,  and  remain  there  with  her  as  long  as 
she  desired  ;  and  that,  far  from  being  any  incon- 
venience to  him  to  do  so,  it  would  be  a  pleasure. 
But  Mrs.  Gray  said  that  it  was  on  her  account 
more  than  on  his,  that  she  made  the  proposal. 

"  Because,"  said  she,  "  if  you  are  with  us  I 
shall  be  thinking  all  the  time  that  perhaps  it 
would  be  better  for  you  to  be  somewhere  else ; 
whereas,  with  Rollo  and  the  children,  I  can  stroll 
about  wherever  I  please." 

In  this  view  of  the  case,  Mr.  George  consented 
to  her  proposal.  Accordingly,  after  breakfast, 
he  left  Rollo  to  engage  a  carriage  and  take  Mrs. 
Gray  and  the  others  to  the  museum,  while  he 
went  to  find  his  two  friends,  the  students,  at  an- 
other hotel,  where  they  were  lodging.  They 
were  all  to  meet  in  the  hall  of  the  museum  at  ten 
o'clock. 

At  half  past  nine  Rollo  had  a  nice  carriage  at 
the  door.  Josie  sat  in  the  carriage  while  Rollo 
went  up  to  Mrs.  Gray's  room  to  tell  her  that  it 
was  ready.  Rosie,  who  was  still  far  from  being 
strong,  leaned  on  Rollo's  arm  coming  down  stairs. 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  you  are  going  to  have 
the  care  of  us  to-day,  instead  of  Mr.  George," 
said  she. 


The    Museum.  177 

Kosie's  views  in  respect  to  the  museum. 

"  So  am  I,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  am  very  glad 
indeed." 

"  I  don't  care  any  thing  at  all  about  his  old 
learned  inscriptions,"  said  Rosie. 

"  Nor  do  I  much,"  said  Rollo.  "  Still  they  are 
very  curious,  when  once  we  understand  them." 

"  Perhaps  they  may  be,"  said  Rosie,  "  but  I 
don't  care  about  them.  What  I  want  is,  to  see 
the  pretty  things." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  and  I  will  show  you  all 
the  pretty  things  I  can  find." 

Rollo  assisted  the  two  ladies  into  the  carriage, 
and  then,  after  getting  in  himself,  he  ordered  the 
coachman  to  drive  to  the  museum.  The  way 
lay  first  through  one  or  two  open  squares,  bor- 
dered with  churches,  porticos,  and  palaces,  and 
then  through  a  long,  straight  street,  called  the 
Toledo.  This  is  the  principal  street  of  shops  in 
Naples,  and  is  said  to  be  the  most  populous  and 
crowded  street  in  Europe.  It  was  so  thronged 
with  people  every  where,  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  as  well  as  upon  the  sidewalks,  that  the 
carriage  could  scarcely  pass  along. 

At  length,  however,  it  arrived  at  the  museum. 
There  was  a  spacious  stone  platform  before  the 
building,  with  a  broad  flight  of  stone  steps  as- 
cending to  it.  Rollo  assisted  his  party  to  de- 
scend from  the  carriage,  and  then  he  stopped  to 
12 


178  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  party  arrivo  at  the  museum.  Entrance  hall. 

pay  the  coachman,  while  they  went  up  the  steps. 
Hollo  joined  them  on  the  platform. 

The  doors  of  the  museum  building,  which  were 
immensely  large,  were  open,  but  they  were  guard- 
ed by  a  soldier,  who  walked  back  and  forth  be- 
fore the  entrance,  carrying  his  gun  with  the  bay- 
onet set.  Rollo  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but 
walked  directly  in.  Josie  walked  by  his  side, 
and  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  followed  them. 

"  Now,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  must  wait  here  until 
uncle  George  comes." 

The  hall  into  which  they  had  entered  was  very 
large  and  very  lofty,  and  the  columns  and  stair- 
cases that  were  to  be  seen  here  and  there  adorn- 
ing it  were  very  grand.  On  different  sides  were  va- 
rious passages,  with  doors  leading  to  the  several 
apartments  and  ranges  of  apartments  of  the  mu- 
seum. These  doors  were  all  open,  but  the  en- 
trance to  each  was  closed  by  an  iron  gate,  and 
each  gate  had  a  man  standing  near  it  to  guard  it. 
Over  each  of  these  doors  was  an  inscription  con- 
taining the  name  of  the  particular  department  of 
the  museum  to  which  it  led. 

By  the  side  of  the  great  door  of  entrance  was 
a  small  room  in  a  corner,  kept  by  two  men  in 
uniform.  This  was  the  place  for  the  visitors  to 
deposit  their  canes  and  umbrellas  in.  It  is  not 
safe  to   allow  people  in  general    to   take   such 


The   Museum.  179 


Office  for  canes  and  umbrellas.  Tickets.  The  party  divides. 


things  into  cabinets  of  curiosities,  for  there  are 
many  who  have  so  little  discretion,  that,  in  point- 
ing to  the  objects  around  them,  they  would  often 
touch  them  with  the  iron  end  of  the  umbrella  or 
the  cane,  and  so  scratch  or  otherwise  injure 
them. 

Rollo  took  Mrs.  Gray's  parasol  from  her  hand 
and  gave  it  to  one  of  the  men.  The  man  put  a 
strap  around  it.  The  strap  had  a  ticket  with 
the  number  49  upon  it.  He  gave  another  ticket, 
also  marked  49,  to  Rollo,  and  Rollo  put  it  in  his 
pocket. 

At  this  moment  Rollo  saw  Mr.  George  and 
the  two  students  coming  in  at  the  door.  The 
three  gentlemen  deposited  their  canes  at  the  little 
office  just  as  Mrs.  Gray  had  done  with  her  para- 
sol, and  then  the  whole  party  advanced  into  the 
great  hall. 

Mr.  George  and  the  students  went  with  Mrs. 
Gray  and  the  children  into  the  first  room,  but 
they  soon  left  them,  and  after  that  Rollo  was  the 
sole  guide. 

Each  department  of  the  museum  was  contained 
in  a  separate  suit  of  apartments,  at  the  entrance 
to  which,  as  I  have  already  said,  there  was  a 
small  iron  gate  across  the  doorway.  This  little 
gate  was  kept  shut  and  locked  ;  but  there  was  a 
man  who  stood  by  it,  inside,  always  ready  to  open 


180  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Fees  to  pay.  Pictures  for  sale.  Tools  and  implements. 

it  whenever  he  saw  any  visitors  coining.  He 
always  shut  and  locked  the  door  again  when  the 
visitors  went  in.  Then,  finally,  when  they  were 
ready  to  come  out,  he  unlocked  the  gate  for 
them,  and  it  was  then  that  they  were  expected  to 
pay  the  fee  for  visiting  that  part  of  the  museum. 
Rollo  had  taken  care  to  inquire  about  this  be- 
forehand, and  he  had  provided  himself  with  a 
sufficient  number  of  pieces  of  money  of  the  right 
value,  so  as  not  to  have  any  trouble  in  making 
change. 

In  most  of  the  rooms  there  were  men  who  had 
pictures  for  sale,  illustrating  the  objects  con- 
tained there,  for  visitors  to  buy,  in  order  to  car- 
ry them  home  as  souvenirs  of  their  visit,  and  to 
show  to  their  friends  at  home.  Mrs.  Gray 
bought  quite  a  number  of  these  pictures,  and 
Rollo  himself  bought  several. 

The  rooms  that  interested  the  young  persons 
most  were  those  which  contained  the  tools  and 
household  implements,  and  the  various  utensils 
found  at  Pompeii.  In  general  these  things  were 
much  more  similar  to  the  corresponding  articles 
of  the  present  day  than  one  would  have  expected 
to  find.  But  yet  there  were  many  differences, 
both  of  form  and  structure,  which  made  them 
extremely  curious  to  see. 

For  instance,  there  was  a  bell  found  in  one  of 


The   Museum.  181 

Curious  bell.  Steelyards.  Cooking  fireplaces. 

the  houses ;  but  instead  of  being  hollow,  and 
having  a  clapper  inside,  as  is  the  custom  at  the 
present  day,  it  consisted  simply  of  a  large,  flat 
ring,  like  a  plate,  with  a  hole  through  the  centre 
of  it.  This  ring  was  hung  up  by  means  of  a  short 
chain,  and  by  the  side  of  it  there  was  hung  a  sort 
of  hammer.  To  ring  the  bell  it  was  necessary 
to  strike  it  with  this  hammer.  An  attendant  in 
the  room  did  this  while  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rollo 
were  there,  to  let  them  hear  how  the  bell 
sounded. 

"  It  sounds  very  well  indeed,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Rosie  ;  "  but  I  don't  think  it 
is  quite  so  musical  as  one  of  our  bells." 

There  were  several  pairs  of  steelyards  in  the 
room,  too,  which  were  very  much  like  the  steel- 
yards of  the  present  day,  only  they  were  made 
of  a  more  ornamental  form.  The  weights  were 
quite  pretty  little  pieces  of  sculpture  and  stat- 
uary. 

There  were  some  very  curious  and  pretty  little 
cooking  fireplaces,  one  of  which,  in  particular, 
the  young  people  admired  very  much  indeed. 
Rosie  said  that  she  should  have  liked  it  very 
much  herself,  when  she  was  a  child,  to  play  with. 
In  the  centre  was  a  sort  of  pan  for  the  coals,  or 
embers,  and  all  around  was  a  raised  border, 
made  double,  with  a  space  between  to  contain 


182  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Mosaic  floors  of  different  kinds. 

water.  In  one  corner  there  was  a  raised  part, 
with  an  opening  to  pour  in  the  water,  and  in 
front,  below,  there  was  a  small  faucet  for  the 
purpose  of  drawing  the  water  out.  Of  course 
the  embers  or  coals  in  the  centre  of  the  pan  kept 
the  water  in  the  reservoir  around  it  always  warm. 

There  was  also  a  little  place  on  one  side  where 
a  kettle  or  a  saucepan  could  stand  on  two  sup- 
ports, with  an  opening  below  to  put  the  coals 
under. 

A  great  many  of  the  floors  in  Pompeii  were 
found  to  be  in  mosaic  ;  that  is,  they  were  formed 
of  various  colored  stones,  arranged  together  in  a 
sort  of  bed  of  cement,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
show  a  picture,  or  some  other  ornamental  design. 
In  many  cases  there  were  only  two  kinds  of 
stones  used,  black  and  white  ;  and  these  were 
arranged  so  as  to  form  borders,  scrolls,  and  pat- 
tern work,  —  as  it  is  called,  —  of  various  kinds. 
In  some  places  a  border  was  formed  around  the 
room,  and  the  figure  of  some  animal  was  placed 
in  the  centre.  In  other  cases  groups  of  animals, 
or  of  men,  were  represented,  in-  a  very  perfect 
manner.  It  has  always  been  considered  wonder- 
ful that  such  spirited  and  beautiful  designs  could 
be  so  well  represented  by  a  method  apparently 
so  rude  as  the  arrangement  on  a  floor  of  bits  of 
different  colored  stones. 


The   Museum, 


183 


Removal  of  the  mosaics. 


Cave  canem. 


The  best  of  these  mosaics  were  taken  up  and 
removed  to  the  museum.  You  would  think  at  first 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  remove  them  in  any 
other  way  than  by  taking  them  all  to  pieces  and 
putting  them  together  again,  each  little  stone  in 
its  proper  place,  on  the  floor  of  the  museum, 
where  the  mosaic  was  intended  to  go.  But  the 
artists  contrived  a  way  to  take  them  up  without 
all  this  labor,  and  thus  several  of  the  best  ones 
have  been  removed  without  disturbing  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  stones,  and  have  been  laid 
down  on  the  floors  of  the  museum. 


THE  MOSAIC. 


O  O 


184  Rollo   in   Naples. 

A  large  and  wonderful  mosaic.  The  rase  room. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  these  mosaics  is  a 
representation  of  a  dog,  which  was  placed  just 
within  the  entrance  of  a  house,  and  just  at  the 
entrance  were  the  words,  also  in  mosaic,  Cave 
canem,  which  is  the  Latin  for  Look  out  for 
the  dog.  On  the  preceding  page  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  this  mosaic. 

This  mosaic  was  curious  rather  than  wonder- 
ful ;  but  in  another  house  there  was  one  which 
has  always  been  considered  a  most  marvellous 
production,  on  account  of  the  complicated  charac- 
ter of  the  design,  and  the  immense  number  of 
stones  composing  it.  It  represents  a  battle 
scene,  and  contains  a  great  number  of  men  and 
horses,  all  mingled  together  in  great  confusion  on 
the  field  of  battle.  The  number  of  pieces  of 
stone  used  in  making  this  mosaic  is  almost  incal- 
culable. 

Although  it  was  originally  made  as  part  of  a 
floor,  it  is  now  very  carefully  guarded,  and  no 
one  is  allowed  to  walk  upon  it.  It  is  surrounded 
by  a  railing,  and  along  one  side  of  it  there  is  a 
raised  platform  for  visitors  to  stand  upon  in  order 
to  see  it  to  advantage. 

There  were  one  or  two  large  rooms  that  were 
filled  with  beautifully-formed  jars  and  vases,  of  a 
brownish  color,  and  ornamented  upon  the  out- 
side with  figures  and  devices  of  all  kinds.     These 


The  Museum.  185 

Curious  mounting  of  some  of  the  vases. 

devices  represented  all  sorts  of  scenes,  and  they 
are  considered  extremely  valuable  on  account  of 
the  light  they  throw  on  the  manners  and  customs, 
and  the  modes  of  life,  which  prevailed  in  those 
ancient  days.  Some  of  these  vases  are  of  very 
great  value.  They  are  very  large,  and  to  enable 
the  visitor  to  see  them  on  all  sides,  without  dan- 
ger of  breaking  them,  a  great  many  of  them  are 
mounted  in  the  museum  on  stands  fitted  with  a 
revolving  top,  so  that  they  can  be  turned  round, 
and  made  to  present  all  the  sides  successively  to 
the  spectator.  In  addition  to  this,  some  of  the 
finest  specimens  are  protected  by  a  large  glass 
bell  placed  over  them. 

Mrs.  Gray  and  the  children  found  Mr.  George 
and  the  two  students  in  this  room,  when  they  first 
came  into  it.  Mr.  George  said  that  they  were 
going  to  stay  there  nearly  all  that  day.  They 
wished  to  examine  the  drawings  on  the  vases  in 
detail.  Rollo  looked  at  a  few  of  them,  but  he 
could  not  understand  them  very  well. 

"  You  will  understand  them  better,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  when  you  have  learned  more  about  the 
ancient  mythology." 

"  But  then  I  shall  not  be  here  to  see  them,"  re- 
joined Rollo. 

"True,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "but  they  have 
all  been  copied  and  engraved,  and  you  will  find 


186  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Rollo  examines  one  of  them.  Tho  gem  room. 

them  exactly  reproduced  in  books  in  all  the  great 
libraries  of  the  world.  All  that  you  can  do  now 
is  to  take  a  general  view  of  them,  and  of  the 
room  containing  them,  and  to  examine  one  or  two 
in  detail,  and  then,  by  and  by,  when  you  wish  to 
study  them  more  particularly,  you  must  do  it 
from  the  drawings.  You  will  find  that  the  inter- 
est that  you  will  take  in  the  drawings  will  be 
greatly  increased  by  your  having  had  this  oppor- 
tunity to  see  the  originals." 

Mr.  George  conducted  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  to 
one  of  the  vases  which  stood  near  a  window, 
on  one  of  the  revolving  stands  ;  and  while  an 
attendant  turned  it  slowly  round,  so  as  to  ex- 
hibit the  successive  sides  to  view,  he  explained 
to  them  the  meaning  of  the  figures,  and  showed 
them  what  the  different  people  were  doing. 

After  remaining  a  short  time  in  this  depart- 
ment, Rollo  and  his  party  went  on,  leaving  Mr. 
George  and  the  two  students  still  there. 

But  the  room  which  interested  Mrs.  Gray  and 
Rosie  most,  was  what  is  called  the  Gem  Room. 
It  contains  all  the  gems  and  jewelry,  and  other 
personal  ornaments,  that  were  found  at  Hercula- 
neum  and  Pompeii,  as  well  as  a  great  many  other 
very  curious  things.  There  were  rings,  bracelets, 
and  necklaces,  made  of  gold,  and  adorned  with 
precious  stones ;  and  there  were  a  great  many 


The  Museum.  187 

The  party  pass  through  other  rooms.    Immense  extent  of  the  museum. 

signets  and  other  gems  engraved  in  the  most  del- 
icate and  exquisite  manner.  These  things  were 
all  arranged  in  glass  cases,  so  that  they  could 
be  seen  to  great  advantage,  but  they  could  not 
be  touched.  There  were  a  great  many  other  cu- 
rious things  in  this  room  ;  and  there  were  also  a 
great  many  other  very  curious  rooms,  all  of  which 
Mrs.  Gray  and  the  children  walked  through, 
though  there  were  so  many  things  to  be  seen  in 
them,  that,  in  the  end,  they  became  quite  bewil- 
dered. In  the  mean  time  the  hours  passed  away, 
and  at  length  Mrs.  Gray,  looking  at  her  watch, 
said  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock,  which  was  the 
hour  for  the  museum  to  be  closed.  So  they  did 
not  go  into  any  more  rooms,  but  concluded  to 
go  home.  They  went  down  the  great  staircase, 
towards  the  entrance  door,  and  then,  after  stop- 
ping to  get  Mrs.  Gray's  parasol,  they  took  a 
carriage  and  drove  home.  Mrs.  Gray  said  that 
she  had  seen  the  museum,  but  not  the  things  that 
were  in  it. 

"  We  have  scarcely  seen  one  in  a  thousand  of 
them,"  said  she. 


188  Rollo   in  Naples. 

How  Kollo  spent  his  time.  The  streets  of  Naples. 


Chapter  X. 
The   Streets. 

Mr.  George  continued  for  many  days  wholly 
engrossed  with  his  studies  in  the  museum,  so  that 
Rollo  saw  very  little  of  him,  and  had  no  help 
from  him  in  respect  to  finding  occupation  and 
amusement. 

"  Indeed,"  said  Rollo  to  Rosie  one  evening:,  "I 
have  lost  the  use  of  him  altogether." 

Rollo  was,  however,  not  at  all  at  a  loss  for 
the  means  of  spending  his  time.  It  was  an  end- 
less amusement  for  him  and  Josie  to  ramble 
about  the  streets,  and  observe  the  countless  vari- 
ety of  scenes  and  incidents  which  were  going  on 
there.  It  is  the  custom  at  Naples,  among  all  the 
lower  classes  of  the  people,  to  do  every  thing  in 
the  street,  and  all  the  sidewalks  and  open  spaces, 
especially  along  the  quays,  were  occupied  by 
hundreds  of  families,  engaged  in  every  species  of 
trade  and  manufacture,  and  in  all  sorts  of  domes- 
tic occupations.  Here,  in  a  wide  place  by  the 
side  of  the  street,  cabinet  makers  would  be  at 


The  Streets.  189 

Various  occupations  going  on  in  the  streets. 

work,  polishing  tables,  or  making  veneers,  or  put- 
ting together  the  frames  of  bureaus.  A  little 
farther  on,  a  large  space  would  be  occupied  with 
the  manufacture  of  iron  bedsteads,  with  all  the 
operations  of  forging,  filing,  polishing,  and  gild- 
ing going  on  in  the  open  air.  Next,  a  turner 
would  be  seen,  either  out  upon  the  sidewalk,  or 
close  to  his  door,  turning  with  a  bow  lathe  ;  and 
next  a  range  of  families  all  along  the  street,  the 
women  knitting  or  sewing,  or  spinning  yarn,  and 
the  children  playing  about  on  the  pavements  near. 
Perhaps  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  children  would 
be  tending  the  baby,  either  holding  it  in  her 
arms,  or  rocking  it  to  sleep  in  a  round-bottomed 
basket  on  the  pavement.  These  round-bottomed 
baskets  were  all  the  cradles  they  seemed  to  have. 
But  what  pleased  Rollo  and  Josie  most  was  to 
stroll  along  a  street  in  a  part  of  the  town  where  the 
sailors  lived.  It  was  at  a  place  where  there  was 
a  wide  beach,  which  was  entirely  covered  with 
fishing  boats,  that  had  been  drawn  up  there  on 
the  sand.  Between  the  boats  and  the  street 
there  was  a  level  place,  where  the  fishermen's 
families  had  established  themselves.  Some  were 
making  or  mending  nets.  Some  were  frying  fish 
in  the  open  air.  Some  were  gathered  around  a 
big  stone  with  a  flat  top,  which  they  were  using 
for  a  table,  and  were  eating  their  breakfast  or 


190  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  beggars  in  Naples.  Annoyance  from  them. 

their  dinner  there.  Some  were  lying  stretched 
out  upon  the  ground,  or  curled  up  in  corners,  fast 
asleep. 

It  was  a  very  curious  sight  to  see,  and  it  would 
have  been  a  very  pretty  one,  had  it  not  been  that 
almost  all  these  people  were  clothed  in  rags,  and 
looked  like  so  many  beggars.  Indeed,  there 
were  a  great  many  real  beggars  every  where 
about,  —  so  many,  in  fact,  that  no  lady  could  have 
any  peace  at  all  in  walking  about  the  streets  of 
Naples,  on  account  of  their  importunity.  Mrs. 
Gray  and  Rosie  would  have  liked  very  much  to 
have  walked  about  with  Rollo  and  Josie,  in  the 
excursions  which  they  made  in  this  way ;  but  they 
could  not  do  it,  for  every  where  they  went,  such 
a  number  of  poor,  diseased,  crippled,  and  wretch- 
ed-looking objects  came  up  to  them,  and  gathered 
around  them,  as  to  destroy  all  the  pleasure. 

There  is  no  need  of  this  at  all ;  for  Naples  is  a 
very  thrifty  place,  and  the  people  that  live  in  it 
are  abundantly  able  to  take  care  of  their  poor. 
They  have,  in  fact,  built  hospitals  and  endowed 
them,  and  the  poor  people  who  have  no  friends  to 
take  care  of  them  might  go  to  the  hospitals  if 
they  chose.  But  as  the  climate  in  that  country 
is  mild,  and  they  can  live  well  enough  in  the  open 
air,  they  prefer  to  ramble  about  the  streets  and  beg, 
and  there  are  enough  inconsiderate  people  among 


The   Streets.  191 

No  possible  way  of  escaping  the  beggars. 

the  visitors  always  at  Naples,  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, to  give  them  money  sufficient  to  keep  up  the 
system. 

Thus  every  person  among  the  lower  classes  in 
Naples,  who  has  any  disease,  or  infirmity,  or  mal- 
formation of  any  kind,  considers  it  a  treasure, 
and  comes  out  into  the  street  to  exhibit  it  to  all 
beholders,  as  a  means  of  gaining  money.  No 
imagination  can  conceive  more  shocking  and  dis- 
gusting spectacles  than  those  which  the  police  of 
Naples  allow  to  be  brought  up  right  before  every 
lady  or  gentleman  who  attempts  to  take  a  walk 
in  the  streets.  These  sights  meet  you  at  every 
turn.  Even  if  you  take  a  carriage,  you  do  not 
escape  from  them  ;  for  the  beggars  crowd  around 
the  carriage  when  you  get  into  it,  at  the  door  of 
the  hotel,  and  watch  for  it  there  when  you  come 
back.  And  when  you  stop  on  the  way  to  go  into 
a  shop,  all  that  are  in  that  street  at  the  time 
gather  up  and  wait  at  the  door  till  you  come  out ; 
and  while  you  are  getting  into  the  carriage,  and 
the  coachman  is  shutting  the  door  and  mounting 
upon  his  box,  they  implore,  and  moan,  and  beg,  and 
entreat  you  to  give  them  a  little  money.  They 
are  so  wretched,  they  say,  they  are  dying  of 
hunger. 

A  great  many  of  these  people  are  really  poor, 
no  doubt ;  but  they  have  no  right  thus  to  force 


192  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Erils  of  this  system.  Impostors.  Rollo  and  Josie. 

their  poverty  and  their  diseases  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public,  when  other  modes,  and  far  bet- 
ter modes,  are  provided  for  their  relief.  A  great 
many  of  them,  however,  are  impostors.  Indeed, 
one  of  the  greatest  objections  to  the  system  of  al- 
lowing the  poor  to  get  their  living  by  begging  in 
the  streets,  is  the  direct  tendency  of  it  to  encourage 
and  train  impostors.  No  one  can  possibly  know 
from  hearing  the  complaint  of  a  poor  person  by 
the  wayside,  or  from  the  appearance  which  he 
presents,  either  how  much  he  needs  help,  or  how 
much  help  he  may  have  already  received  ;  and  of 
course,  by  this  mode  of  dispensing  charity,  the 
best  possible  facilities  are  afforded  for  every 
species  of  deceit  and  imposture. 

Mrs.  Gray  understood  all  this,  and  she  saw 
that  if  every  body  would  firmly  and  persever- 
ingly  refuse  to  give  money  to  applicants  in  the 
public  streets,  the  system  of  making  an  ostenta- 
tious parade  of  misery,  real  and  counterfeited, 
that  now  prevails  in  Naples,  would  soon  come  to 
an  end.  She  accordingly  never  gave  any  thing, 
neither  did  Mr.  George  or  Eollo.  Indeed  Rollo 
and  Josie  were  seldom  molested  when  they  were 
walking  by  themselves,  for  the  beggars  —  consid- 
ering them  as  only  two  boys  —  did  not  expect  to 
get  any  thing  from  them. 

"  The  only  beggar  that  I  ever  gave  any  thing  to 


The  Streets.  193 


Rollo  gives  once  to  a  beggar. 


in  Naples,"  said  Rollo,  "  was  a  poor  black  dog.  I 
gave  him  half  of  a  fried  cake  that  I  bought  at  a 
stall.  He  swallowed  it  in  an  instant.  I  call 
hiin  a  beggar  because  he  looked  up  into  my  face 
so  piteously,  though  he  did  not  ask  for  any  thing. 
He  did  not  speak  a  word." 

"  And  what  did  he  do  after  you  gave  him  the 
cake  ?  "  asked  Rosie. 

"  He  looked  up  a  moment  to  see  if  I  was  going 
to  give  him  any  more,"  said  Rollo,  "  and  then  he 
walked  away." 
13 


194  Rollo   in  Naples. 


Mr.  George  proposes  a  plan  to  Rollo. 


Chapter  XI. 

An  Excursion. 

"  Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo  one  morning, 
while  he  and  Mr.  George  were  eating  their 
breakfast  in  the  dining  room,  or,  as  they  call  it  in 
Europe,  the  salle  d  manger,  of  the  hotel,  "  how 
much  longer  are  you  going  to  be  in  studying  out 
those  things  in  the  museum  ?  " 

"Why?"  asked  Mr.  George.  "Does  your 
comfort  or  enjoyment  depend  in  any  way  on  the 
decision  of  that  question  ?  " 

"  Only  we  want  you  to  go  about  with  us.  some- 
where," said  Rollo. 

"Why,  you  don't  need  me  to  go  about  with 
you,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  Contrive  some  sort 
of  excursion  yourself,  and  take  the  ladies  out  and 
amuse  them.  You  might  take  them  out  to  see 
Pozzuoli  and  the  Solfatara.  Besides,  you  would 
be  doing  me  a  great  service  if  you  would  go." 

"How?"  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  I  shall  want  to  go  by  and  by  myself," 
said  Mr.  George,  "and  I  don't  want  to  have  any 


An   Excursion.  I9i 


Virgil's  Tomb.  The  grotto.  The  Solfatara. 

trouble  in  finding  the  way.  But  you  like  finding 
your  way  about.  Now,  I  wish  you  would  take  a 
carriage,  and  go  and  take  the  ladies  on  an  excur- 
sion along  the  bay  to  the  westward,  and  show 
them  Virgil's  Tomb,  and  the  Grotto  of  Posilipo, 
and  Pozzuoli,  where  the  apostle  Paul  landed  on 
his  famous  journey  to  Rome,  and  the  temple  of 
Serapis,  half  under  water,  and  the  great  amphi- 
theatre, and  the  Solfatara,  which  is  the  crater  of 
a  volcano  almost  extinct.  All  these  things  lie 
pretty  near  together  along  the  shores  of  the  bay 
to  the  westward  of  Naples,  and  you  can  go  and 
see  them  in  one  afternoon,  they  say.  If  you  go 
first,  you  will  find  out  all  about  the  excursion,  and 
what  we  do  about  guides  and  custodians  at  the 
different  places  ;  and  then,  when  I  get  ready,  you 
can  go  again  and  take  me,  and  I  shall  not  have 
any  trouble  about  it." 

"  Just  give  me  a  list  of  all  those  places,"  said 
Rollo,  eagerly. 

As  he  spoke  he  handed  Mr.  George  a  pencil 
and  a  piece  of  paper,  which  he  took  out  of  his 
pocket.  Mr.  George  wrote  down  the  list,  and 
Rollo,  taking  it,  went  up  to  Mrs.  Gray's  room. 

Rollo  proposed  the  plan  to  Mrs.  Gray  of  mak- 
ing the  excursion  which  Mr.  George  had  indicat- 
ed, and  she  was  very  much  pleased  with  it. 

"  We'll  study  it  all  out  in   the  guide  books 


196  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Rollo,  with  Eosie's  help,  studies  the  guide  book. 

this  evening,"  said  Rollo,  "  and  then  to-morrow 
we  will  go." 

Mrs.  Gray  approved  of  this  plan,  and  so  Rollo 
looked  out  in  the  guide  book  the  account  which 
was  given  there  of  the  several  places  and  objects 
of  interest  on  Mr.  George's  list,  and  read  the  pas- 
sages aloud  to  the  whole  party.  Rosie  sat  beside 
him  on  the  sofa,  and  helped  him  find  the  places, 
and  also  looked  over  him  while  he  read.  The 
account  which  was  given  of  the  places  was  very 
interestiug  indeed. 

The  next  morning,  about  ten  o'clock,  after 
Mr.  George  had  gone  to  the  museum,  Rollo  and 
Josie  went  out  to  find  a  carriage.  They  in- 
quired at  the  hotel,  before  they  went,  how  much 
they  ought  to  pay.  When  they  reached  the  stand, 
they  looked  along  the  line,  and  finally  chose  one 
with  a  nice  and  pretty  blue  lining,  and  two  jet 
black  horses.  They  made  their  bargain  with  the 
coachman,  and  then  drove  to  the  door. 

Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  were  ready,  and  soon  the 
party  were  driving  rapidly  along  on  their  way 
out  of  town,  passing  by  the  gates  of  the  public 
gardens,  which  lie  in  a  beautiful  situation  along 
the  shore,  in  the  western  part  of  the  city.  You 
have  a  view  of  these  gardens  in  the  engraving  ; 
and  in  the  distance,  over  the  tops  of  the  houses, 
you  see  a  long  ridge  of  high  land  running  down 


\AiliiifI  iifcii 


isfetK^K'c-  f.  m 


■JfflPP 


fBfeSS 

'■■"-■-■- 

!§||?    f||!  i'i    ji-:fS^^gP'^g;ovp^  SSS'f  if 

If  If  III/  /  ^ip^'S'O'lillf!!'! 


An    Excursion.  199 

They  set  out  on  the  excursion.  The  grotto. 

towards  the  sea.  It  was  through  this  ridge  of 
high  land  that  the  famous  subterranean  passage 
way,  called  the  Grotto  of  Posilipo,  was  cut,  to 
open  a  way  for  the  road  into  the  country  with- 
out going  over  the  hill. 

After  driving  along  the  street  which  lies  be- 
tween the  gardens  and  the  houses  on  the  right,  as 
seen  in  the  engraving,  the  carriage  turned  into 
another  street,  which  runs  behind  the  houses,  and 
thence  gradually  ascended  towards  the  entrance 
to  the  grotto.  Just  before  reaching  the  entrance, 
the  land  seemed  to  rise  to  a  very  lofty  height 
before  and  on  each  side  of  the  road  ;  and  it  was 
so  built  up  in  terraces,  and  garden  walls,  and  plat- 
forms, and  staircases  of  villas,  that  there  seemed 
to  be  no  way  out.  Rosie  could  not  imagine,  she 
said,  where  they  could  possibly  be  going,  until  at 
length,  at  a  sudden  turn  between  two  lofty  walls, 
they  saw  the  immense  mouth  of  the  grotto  open- 
ing before  them. 

The  grotto  was  wide  enough  for  two  carriages 
to  pass,  and  very  high.  It  was  lighted  with 
lamps,  and  was  full  of  people  and  of  carriages  go- 
ing and  coming.  Here  and  there  along  the  walls 
of  rock  on  each  side,  near  the  entrance,  there  were 
a  great  many  curious  structures  to  be  seen,  and 
openings  cut  in  the  rock.  On  one  side  was  a 
chapel  excavated  in  the  rock,  with  an  iron  rail- 


200  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Entrance  to  the  grotto.  Staircase  leading  up  to  a  garden. 

ing  in  front  of  it,  to  separate  it  from  the  road. 
Within  this  railing  there  was  an  altar,  with  lamps 
burning  before  it,  and  a  priest  begging  money  of 
the  people  passing  by.  On  the  other  side  was  an 
ancient  monument,  with  a  long  Latin  inscription 
upon  it.  Above  were  a  great  many  different 
openings  cut  in  the  rock. 

Rollo  had  ordered  the  coachman  to  stop  at  the 
entrance  to  Virgil's  Tomb,  and  the  carriage  ac- 
cordingly drew  up  before  a  gate  which  seemed  to 
be  set  in  the  solid  wall  of  rock  which  formed  one 
side  of  the  entrance  to  the  grotto.  There  was  a 
man  standing  at  this  gate,  and  as  soon  as  he  saw 
the  carriage  stop,  he  unlocked  it.  They  all  got 
out  of  the  carriage,  and  went  in.  The  way  led 
up  a  long  and  narrow,  and  very  steep  flight  of 
stone  steps,  which  brought  the  party  out  at  last 
into  a  sort  of  vineyard,  or  garden,  on  the  surface 
of  the  ground  above. 

Here  there  was  a  path  which  ascended  some 
distance  higher,  among  grape  vines  and  fruit 
trees,  until  at  last  it  came  to  a  place  where  there 
was  a  beautiful  view  of  Naples  and  Vesuvius, 
and  all  the  bay.  After  stopping  a  little  time  to 
admire  this  view,  the  party  went  on,  following 
the  path,  which  now  began  to  descend  again,  and 
to  go  back  towards  the  mouth  of  the  grotto. 
Here,  after  climbing  up  and  down  among  a  great 


An   Excursion.  201 

Virgil's  Tomb.  The  party  drive  through  the  grotto. 

number  of  caverns  and  excavations  of  all  kinds 
cut  in  the  rock,  they  came  down  to  a  place  just 
over  the  top  of  the  mouth  of  the  great  grotto, 
where  the  structure  which  is  called  Virgil's  Tomb 
is  situated.  It  was  a  very  strange  place.  Rosie 
said  that  it  was  the  strangest  place  that  ever  she 
was  in.  Far  beneath  them  they  could  hear  the 
sound  of  the  carriages,  and  the  voices  of  men 
who  were  going  in  and  coming  out,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  great  grotto  below. 

After  remaining  here  a  few  minutes,  the  party 
all  went  back  down  the  path  through  the  vine- 
yard to  the  carriage  again. 

The  coachman  then  drove  on  through  the 
grotto.  It  was  full  of  carts,  carriages,  loaded 
donkeys,  and  foot  passengers,  all  going  to  or  re- 
turning from  Naples.  The  floor  of  it  was  paved 
with  stone,  and  at  different  distances  up  the 
sides  could  be  seen  the  marks  made  by  the  hubs 
of  wheels  in  former  ages,  when  the  roadway  was 
at  a  higher  level  than  it  is  now.  The  natural 
rock  is  so  soft  that  the  wheel  hubs  cut  into  it 
very  easily.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  floor  is 
paved  too,  for  the  rock  itself  would  not  stand  the 
wear. 

After  passing  through  the  grotto,  the  party 
emerged  into  a  wide  and  open  country,  which 
presented  beautiful  views  on  every  side.     The 


202  Rollo    in   Naples. 

Puteoli.  How  it  happened  that  St.  Paul  lauded  here. 

road  was  excellent,  being  as  hard  and  smooth  as 
a  floor,  and  the  coachman  drove  on  at  great 
speed. 

The  party  came  at  length  in  sight  of  a  town, 
which  stood  on  a  promontory  jutting  out  into  the 
sea,  at  a  short  distance  before  them.  This  was 
the  town  called  in  ancient  times  Puteoli.  It  was 
in  those  days  the  great  seaport  of  the  whole  bay, 
for  Naples  had  not  then  been  built.  It  was  also 
the  nearest  good  port  to  Rome,  in  coming  from 
the  south,  and  it  was  accordingly  here  that  the 
apostle  Paul  landed  when  he  was  sent  to  Rome 
by  Festus,  in  consequence  of  his  having  appealed 
unto  Cassar,  when  accused  and  persecuted  by  the 
Jews.  There  are  the  ruins  of  an  old  mole  still 
to  be  seen  stretching  out  into  the  sea,  opposite 
to  the  port,  and  Rollo  said  he  thought  that  it 
must  have  been  on  that  mole  that  Paul  landed.* 

"  Puteoli  was  a  great  place  in  old  times,"  said 
Rollo  ;  "  and  that's  the  reason  why  they  had  such 
an  immense  amphitheatre  here.  We  are  goino- 
to  see  the  ruins  of  it  presently  ;  but  first,  we  are 
going  to  see  Solfatara." 

Just  at  the  entrance  to  Puteoli,  or  Pozzuoli,  as 
it  is  now  called,  the  party  came  to  a  bridge  where 
there  was  a  small  ascent,  that  made  it  necessary 
for  the  carriage  to  go  slowly  ;  and  here  a  great 

*  See  Acts  xxv,  9-12  ;  also  Acts  xxviii,  13,  14. 


An    Excursion.  203 

The  carriage  is  beset.  Rollo  selects  a  guide. 

number  of  men,  women,  and  children  were  as- 
sembled, some  guides,  but  most  of  them  beggars  ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  carriage  arrived,  they  all 
broke  out  at  once  with  such  a  noise  and  clamor, 
that  Rosie  was  for  a  moment  quite  alarmed. 

"  Never  fear,  Rosie,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  know  how 
to  manage  them." 

Ever  so  many  old  ragged  hats  and  caps  were 
stretched  out  towards  the  carriage,  and  three  or 
four  men  and  boys,  who  all  wanted  to  be  em- 
ployed as  guides,  began  struggling  together  to 
climb  up  upon  the  carriage,  to  get  the  seat  with 
the  driver.  Rollo  looked  at  them  all,  with  a  view 
of  making  a  selection  among  them.  He  chose  an 
intelligent-looking  boy  of  about  his  own  age,  that 
the  men  had  pushed  back. 

"Do  you  speak  French?"  said  Rollo  to  the 
boy,  of  course  speaking  in  French  himself  in 
asking  the  question. 

"  A  little,  sir,"  said  the  boy. 

"  Then  I  engage  you"  said  Rollo.  Then  touch- 
ing the  coachman,  he  pointed  to  the  boy,  and  said, 
"  Questo,"  which  means  "this  one." 

So  the  coachman  pushed  the  other  men  back, 
and  made  room  for  the  boy  to  get  up  on  the  seat 
with  him.  He  then  whipped  up  the  horses,  and 
soon  the  other  guides  and  the  beggars,  with  all 
their  noise  and  clamor,  were  left  behind. 


204  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Kosie  is  much  pleased  with  Rollo's  management. 

"  You  managed  it  very  well,  Rollo,"  said  Mrs. 
Gray. 

"  Yes,  Rollo,''  said  Rosie,  "  you  did  it  very 
well  indeed.  Next  time  I  shall  not  be  at  all 
afraid." 

After  riding  a  little  farther,  the  coachman 
turned  into  a  sort  of  lane,  and  after  going  on  for 
some  way  in  the  lane,  he  stopped.  The  boy  got 
down,  and  said  that  it  would  be  necessary  for 
them  to  walk  the  rest  of  the  way.  So  the  whole 
party  descended  from  the  carriage,  and  began 
their  walk. 

After  going  on  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
they  passed  through  a  gate  which  seemed  to  be 
connected  with  some  rude  sort  of  manufactory, 
and  then,  walking  on  a  little  farther,  they  found 
themselves  within  the  crater.  It  was  a  small, 
circular  valley,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  a 
ridge  of  earth,  apparently  one  or  two  hundred 
feet  high.  The  valley  might  have  been  about  a 
third  or  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  diameter.  The 
bottom  of  it  was  level,  and  was  covered  with  a 
scanty  vegetation.  The  soil  was  very  white,  as 
if  it  were  formed  of  substances  calcined  by  ex- 
posure to  the  fire. 

An  old  man  met  them  at  the  gate,  and  led  the 
way  in  towards  the  middle  of  the  crater,  along  a 
sort  of  cart  road.     After  a  while  he  stopped,  and 


An  Excursion.  205 

The  old  crater.  Resonance  of  the  ground. 

took  up  a  large  stone  —  as  large  as  a  man's  head. 
This  stone  he  threw  down  with  great  force  upon 
the  ground  two  or  three  times,  to  show  how  hol- 
low the  ground  sounded.  It  did  sound  very  hol- 
low indeed,  and  the  peculiar  resonance  which  is 
produced  here  by  this  experiment  is  generally 
considered  as  proving  that  there  is  a  great  void 
space  below  the  surface,  and  that  the  bottom  of 
the  crater  may  some  day  or  other  fall  in. 

At  a  little  distance  farther  on,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  crater,  and  close  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge 
of  earth  that  surrounds  it,  there  was  to  be  seen 
a  column  of  dense  smoke,  or  rather  of  vapor, 
coming  up  out  of  the  ground. 

The  guide  led  the  way  towards  this  place,  and 
all  the  party  followed  him.  As  they  approached 
it,  they  heard  a  roaring  sound,  which  grew  loud- 
er and  louder  as  they  drew  near.  When  they 
arrived  at  the  spot,  they  saw  that  the  steam  was 
issuing  from  the  mouth  of  a  cavern  that  opened 
there ;  and  as  it  came  out,  it  made  a  noise  like 
the  roaring  of  a  steam  pipe  when  the  engineer  is 
blowing  off  steam. 

Mrs.  Gray  and  the  three  children  stood  gazing 
at  this  phenomenon  for  some  time  in  silence.  At 
length  Rollo  said,  "  What  an  astonishing  blast 
that  is,  to  be  coming  up  out  of  the  earth,  day  and 
night,  continually  and  forever  !  " 


206  Rollo   in   Naples. 

Tbe  ground  very  hot.  Manufactory  of  alum. 

"  The  ground  is  very  hot  all  about  here,"  said 
the  boy.     "  See  !  " 

So  saying,  he  pointed  to  the  old  man,  who  was 
at  work  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  dig- 
ging into  the  ground  a  little  way  with  a  sharp  hoe. 
He  dug  down  a  few  inches,  and  then  took  up  a 
hoe  full  of  the  earth,  and  held  it  out  to  Rollo 
to  try  it  with  his  fingers,  that  he  might  feel 
how  hot  it  was.  Rollo  put  his  fingers  upon  the 
earth,  but  he  could  not  hold  them  there  an 
instant. 

It  seemed  to  Mrs.  Gray  that  it  must  be  danger- 
ous to  remain  long  in  such  a  place  ;  and  so  she 
prepared  to  move  away,  and  Rollo  and  Josie,  as 
they  had  now  seen  all  that  there  was  to  be  seen 
at  this  place,  followed  her.  They  went  on  by 
the  road,  round  to  another  part  of  the  crater, 
where  there  was  some  sort  of  manufactory  of 
alum.  The  alum  was  made  from  the  saline 
earth  which  was  found  there,  and  the  evaporat- 
ing basins  used  in  the  process,  instead  of  being 
placed  over  a  fire,  were  simply  set  in  the  ground, 
so  that  the  process  of  evaporation  was  carried  on 
by  the  natural  heat  of  the  soil. 

After  leaving  this  place,  the  party  followed 
the  circuit  of  the  road  still  farther,  until  at  last  it 
brought  them  back  to  the  place  where  they  had 
entered  the  crater ;   and  here,  after  paying  the 


An  Excuesion.  207 

The  party  visit  an  ancient  amphitheatre, 

old  man  who  had  conducted  them  around,  they 
passed  out  through  the  gate,  and  went  down  the 
lane  to  their  carriage. 

"  Now  to  the  amphitheatre,"  said  Rollo,  ad- 
dressing the  coachman. 

So  they  all  got  into  the  carriage  again,  and  the 
coachman  drove  down  the  lane  ;  and  after  going 
back  towards  the  town  a  little  way,  and  making 
various  turns,  he  stopped  at  last  before  a  great 
wooden  gate.  A  man  in  a  certain  uniform  ap- 
peared at  the  gate  and  unlocked  it,  and  they  all 
went  in. 

They  saw  before  them  the  walls  of  an  immense 
ruin.  The  wall  was  of  a  curved  form,  and  there 
were  vast  openings  in  it,  like  arches,  below. 
The  man  in  uniform,  who  was  the  custodian,  as 
they  call  him,  of  the  ruin,  led  the  way  along  a 
path  into  one  of  these  arches,  and  thence  ascend- 
ed a  massive  flight  of  old  stone  steps,  to  a  place 
which  commanded  a  view  of  the  interior. 

They  saw  that  the  amphitheatre  was  of  an 
oval  form,  and  was  built  with  seats  rising  one 
above  another,  all  around,  to  a  great  height. 
The  seats  were  all  of  stone,  and  at  regular  inter- 
vals between  them  were  flights  of  steps  for 
going  up  and  down.  In  the  centre,  below,  was  a 
large  level  space,  called  the  arena.  All  around 
the   arena,   and  under  the  seats,  were  immense 


208  Rollo   in   Naples. 

They  ramble  about  among  the  arches. 

galleries  or  passage  ways  among  the  arches, 
some  of  which  were  below  the  level  of  the  ground. 
Some  of  these  galleries  were  for  the  spectators  to 
use  in  passing  from  one  part  of  the  building  to 
another,  and  others  were  used  for  the  dens  and 
cages  of  the  wild  beasts  that  were  kept  there  to 
fight  in  the  arena,  for  the  amusement  of  the 
people. 

The  guide  led  the  way  through  all  these  places, 
and  it  was  not  until  after  walking  about  through 
them  for  some  time  that  Mrs.  Gray  and  the 
children  obtained  a  full  conception  of  the  magni- 
tude of  the  structure.  The  guide  told  them  that 
it  contained  room  for  forty  thousand  people. 

"  What  a  dreadful  place  it  must  have  been  ! " 
said  Rosie,  as  she  followed  the  guide  round 
through  the  subterranean  chambers. 

"  They  used  to  hoist  the  cages  that  contained 
the  wild  beasts  up  through  these  openings,"  said 
the  guide,  pointing  to  some  large  circular  open- 
ings in  the  masonry  above,  "and  then  open  the 
gates,  and  let  them  out  into  the  arena.  The 
cages  were  so  contrived  that  when  the  keeper 
opened  the  door  to  let  the  beast  out,  by  the  same 
motion  he  shut  himself  in,  so  as  to  be  safe  out  of 
his  way.  He  then,  afterwards,  got  out  behind, 
by  another  door." 

There  was  a  very  wide  and  deep  canal  open 


An  Excursion.  209 

Means  of  flooding  the  arena.  Combats  of  wild  beasts. 

in  the  centre  of  the  arena,  with  a  communication 
for  water  connected  with  a  vast  reservoir  a  little 
way  off.  By  means  of  this  canal  the  whole  of  the 
arena  could  be  flooded  with  water,  so  as  to  form 
a  little  lake  for  naval  battles.  The  guide  took 
the  party  down  to  the  bottom  of  this  canal,  and 
showed  them  a  large,  circular  opening  in  the 
masonry  below,  for  drawing  off  water.  This 
opening  connected  with  a  conduit,  which  ran  off 
towards  the  sea. 

The  spectacles  which  were  exhibited  by  the 
ancients  in  such  buildings  as  these  were  real 
combats  of  beasts  with  one  another,  or  of  beasts 
with  men,  and  sometimes  of  men  with  one  an- 
other. At  first,  the  men  who  were  compelled  to 
maintain  these  combats  were  convicts,  who  were 
condemned  to  them  as  a  punishment  for  their 
crimes.  The  beasts  were  lions,  tigers,  and  other 
ferocious  animals  that  were  caught  in  the  forests 
in  Africa,  or  in  other  remote  parts  of  the  Roman 
empire,  and  brought  to  the  great  cities  for  this 
special  purpose. 

A  great  many  of  the  early  Christians  were 
compelled  to  meet  these  beasts  in  such  conflicts, 
in  the  persecutions  which  they  endured.  The 
rulers  of  the  country  chose  to  consider  them 
as  criminals  for  being  believers  in  Jesus,  and 
so  doomed  them  to  this  dreadful  punishment. 
11 


210  Rollo   in   Naples. 

The  temple  of  Serapis.  Rising  and  falling  of  the  ci  ast. 

It  was  shocking  to  think  of  the  scenes  that 
had  probably  been  enacted  in  this  very  amphi- 
theatre ;  and  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie,  after  they  had 
examined  it  in  every  part,  were  not  sorry  to  go 
away. 

Rollo  next  directed  the  coachman  to  drive  to 
the  Temple  of  Serapis.  The  curiosity  of  the 
Temple  of  Serapis,  which  stands  on  the  shore,  just 
at  the  entrance  of  the  town,  is,  that  it  is  partly 
under  water.  It  seems  that  from  the  effects  of 
earthquakes,  or  from  some  other  similar  agency, 
the  whole  coast  in  this  region  rises  and  falls  in 
the  course  of  ages,  and  that  at  the  present  time  it 
is  several  feet  lower  than  it  was  in  the  days  of  the 
Romans.  The  consequence  is,  that  many  struc- 
tures which  were  originally  built  upon  the  land, 
are  now  partly  or  wholly  submerged  in  the  sea. 
In  passing  along  the  coast  in  a  boat,  you  can  see  a 
great  many  of  these  ruins  in  the  water.  There 
is  one,  however,  which  can  be  seen  without  going 
out  in  a  boat  at  all.  It  is  a  temple  called  the 
Temple  of  Serapis. 

It  stands  on  the  margin  of  the  shore,  and  the 
floor  of  it  is  now  about  a  foot  or  two  under  water. 
This  floor  is  very  extensive,  and  a  great  many 
columns  and  other  superstructures  are  still  stand- 
ing upon  it,  the  whole  of  which  can  be  easily  ex- 
plored by  the  visitor,  by  means  of  a  raised  stone 


An  Excursion.  211 

The  party  walk  about  the  ruins. 

pathway,  made  by  the  government,  which  trav- 
erses it  in  all  directions.  It  is  a  very  curious 
place  indeed. 

Rollo  and  his  party  were  admitted  to  the  ruin 
through  a  gate,  kept  as  usual  by  the  custodian 
appointed  by  the  government ;  and  then  they 
walked  all  over  the  ruin  upon  the  raised  stone 
path.  They  looked  down  through  the  water,  and 
saw  the  marble  floor  of  the  temple  below,  and 
the  columns  rising  up  from  it  with  their  bases 
submerged.  There  is  proof  that  at  one  time 
these  ruins  were  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  lower  than 
they  are  now,  and  that  they  have  since  come  up 
again.  The  next  earthquake  may  depress  the 
whole  coast  again,  in  which  case  the  floor  of  the 
temple  will  be  once  more  deep  under  water  ;  or  it 
may  raise  it  so  as  to  bring  the  ruins  all  up  once 
more,  high  and  dry. 

Rollo  wished  very  much  to  take  a  boat,  and  go 
out  and  see  the  ruins  that  lie  under  water  along 
the  coast ;  but  he  knew  very  well  that  Mrs.  Gray 
would  not  like  to  go  out  in  a  boat,  nor  to  have 
Rosie  go,  at  least  unless  Mr.  George  were  with 
them,  and  so  he  did  not  propose  the  plan.  He, 
however,  only  reserved  it  for  the  time  when  he 
should  come  again  to  see  the  ruins,  in  company 
with  his  uncle. 

After  concluding  the  visit  to  the  Temple  of  Se- 


212  Rollo  in  Naples. 

Rollo  brings  his  party  safely  home. 

rapis,  Rollo  paid  the  boy  whom  he  had  taken  for 
the  guide  when  he  first  arrived  at  Pozzuoli,  and 
then  the  party  drove  home. 

Mrs.  Gray  insisted  on  paying  the  whole  ex- 
pense of  this  excursion  ;  and  she  was  so  much 
pleased  with  Rollo's  management  of  it,  that  she 
said  she  wished  that  he  would  plan  another  excur- 
sion as  soon  as  possible. 


The   Orange   Gardens.  213 

Situation  of  Sorrento.  Lemons  and  oranges. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The   Orange   Gardens. 

The  last  excursion  which  Rollo  made  in  the 
environs  of  Naples,  was  to  a  beautiful  valley 
which  was  situated  some  miles  to  the  south  of  the 
city,  on  the  shores  of  the  bay,  which  was  full  of 
groves  of  lemons  and  oranges.  The  place  was 
called  Sorrento.  The  town  of  Sorrento  and  its 
environs  occupy  a  broad  plain,  which  is  elevat- 
ed somewhat  from  the  sea,  and  yet,  being  sur- 
rounded, on  all  sides  towards  the  land,  with 
ranges  of  very  elevated  land,  it  is  really  a  val- 
ley. The  reason  why  the  oranges  and  lemons 
grow  so  well  there  is,  partly  because  the  soil  is 
very  rich,  and  partly  because  the  valley  opens 
towards  the  south,  and  is  sheltered  by  the  moun- 
tains towards  the  north,  and  this  makes  the  cli- 
mate of  the  spot  very  warm. 

Rollo  himself  formed  the  plan  of  this  excursion. 
One  evening  his  uncle  came  home  from  the  muse- 
um looking  very  tired.  He  laid  his  note  book 
upon  the  table,  threw  himself  down  upon  the  sofa, 
and  said, — 


214  Rollo   in  Naples. 

Mr.  George  comes  home  from  the  museum  very  tired. 

"  Rollo,  I  am  tired  out." 

"  What  makes  you  so  tired  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Hard  work  in  the  museum,"  said  Mr.  George  ; 
"  but  I  have  got  through.  To-morrow  I  mean  to 
rest,  and  I  wish  you  would  take  me  off  to-mor- 
row, somewhere  on  an  excursion.  I  don't  care 
where  it  is,  provided  I  have  nothing  to  think  or 
to  say  about  it.  I  don't  want  even  to  know 
where  I  am  going." 

"  Shall  I  invite  Mrs.  Gray  and  Rosie  to  go 
too  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  I  don't  care  whether  you  do  or  not,"  said 
Mr.  George.  "  Do  as  you  please,  provided  I  have 
nothing  to  say  about  it.  Make  all  the  arrange- 
ments, and  call  me  to-morrow  morning  when  you 
are  ready." 

Accordingly,  the  next  morning,  about  half 
an  hour  after  breakfast,  Rollo  went  into  Mr. 
George's  room,  and  told  him  that  he  was  ready. 
So  Mr.  George  followed  Rollo  down  stairs.  He 
found  a  carriage  at  the  door,  with  Mrs.  Gray 
and  Rosie  sitting  in  it.  Josie  was  there,  too,  on 
the  box  with  the  driver. 

Mr.  George  got  in,  and  Rollo  directed  the 
coachman  to  go  on. 

The  coachman  drove  for  half  an  hour  through 
the  busiest  part  of  the  city,  and  at  length  stopped 
at  the  railway  station. 


The   Orange   Gardens.  215 

Rollo  plans  an  excursion.  Clamor  of  the  coachmen. 

"  Now,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "  you  must 
go  into  the  waiting  room  with  Mrs.  Gray  and 
Rosie,  while  I  get  the  tickets." 

Rollo  bought  tickets  for  a  place  called  Castel- 
lamare,  which  is  a  romantic  town  built  on  the 
shore  of  the  bay  at  the  foot  of  Vesuvius.  It  is 
famous,  among  other  things,  for  the  hot  springs 
of  medicinal  water  which  come  up  out  of  the 
ground  there,  I  suppose  from  under  the  volcano, 
or  from  so  near  the  neighborhood  of  it  that  the 
water  is  heated  by  the  volcanic  fires.  Castella- 
niare  is  a  great  naval  station  for  the  government 
of  the  country,  and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as 
on  account  of  the  springs,  they  have  made  a  rail- 
road to  it  from  Naples. 

On  coming  out  into  the  street  at  the  station  at 
Castellamare,  Rollo  and  his  party  were  greeted 
by  a  sudden  burst  of  clamor  from  a  crowd  of 
coachmen  and  guides,  all  wanting  to  be  hired. 

"  Pay  no  attention  to  all  these  people,  uncle 
George,"  said  Rollo,  "  but  follow  me." 

So  saying,  Rollo  pushed  forward,  followed  by 
his  party,  until  he  reached  a  place  where  he 
could  see  the  carriages.  There  were  a  great 
number  of  them.  They  were  harnessed  with 
three  horses  to  each.  They  were  there  to  take 
travellers  on  excursions  along  the  coast,  and 
among   the  neighboring  mountains.     They  were 


216  Rollo  in  Naples. 

How  Rollo  managed  the  affair.  Magnificent  drive. 

ready  to  go  to  Sorrento,  or  to  Paestum,  or  to 
Amain,  or  wherever  any  travellers  wished  to  go. 

Rollo  paid  no  attention  to  the  clamor,  but 
quietly  surveyed  the  carriages  which  were  stand- 
ing in  the  street  before  him.  The  coachmen  of 
some  of  them  were  on  the  sidewalk ;  those  of 
others  stood  up  in  their  carriages,  shouting  all 
the  time  to  Rollo,  and  cracking  their  whips. 
Rollo  at  last  selected  the  one  which  he  thought 
would  be  best  for  the  purpose,  and  went  quietly 
to  it.  Partly  by  signs,  and  partly  by  disconnect- 
ed words  in  Italian,  he  made  a  bargain  with  the 
man  to  take  them  to  Sorrento  and  back  ;  and  then 
the  carriage  drove  up  to  the  sidewalk,  and  all 
the  party  got  in.  Rollo  also  selected  a  guide. 
The  guide  mounted  on  the  box  with  the  coach- 
man.    Josie  took  a  seat  inside. 

The  party  enjoyed  a  magnificent  ride  along 
the  coast  for  eight  or  ten  miles.  The  road  was 
excellent.  It  was  built  on  the  declivities  of  the 
mountains,  which  here  crowd  close  upon  the  sea. 
It  was  very  smooth  and  hard,  and  was  finished 
with  a  sidewalk,  and  with  avenues  of  trees,  al- 
most all  the  way.  On  one  side  it  looked  down 
upon  the  blue  and  beautiful  bay,  and  on  the  other 
upon  the  mountains,  which  were  almost  every 
where  terraced  up  to  form  vineyards  and  olive 
groves,  and  presented  to  view  a  perpetual  sue- 


The   Orange   Gardens.  217 


Valley  of  Sorrento.  Walls  of  the  Gardens. 

cession  of  villas,  convents,  churches,  summer 
houses,  and  gardens. 

At  length  they  came  in  sight  of  the  valley  of 
Sorrento.  It  lay  broadly  expanded  before  them, 
full  of  groves  of  orange  and  lemon  trees,  among 
which  were  to  be  seen  every  where  lofty  walls 
of  enclosure  running  in  all  directions,  and  roofs 
of  houses,  and  villas,  without  number,  rising 
among  the  trees.  Towards  the  sea  the  ground 
terminated  in  a  range  of  cliffs  that  were  almost 
as  smooth  and  perpendicular  as  a  wall. 

The  carriage  gradually  descended  into  this 
valley,  and  then  went  on  across  it.  Rollo  and 
his  party,  in  thus  riding  along,  had  the  lofty  walls 
of  the  orange  gardens  on  each  side  of  the  way, 
while  here  and  there  there  appeared  a  house,  a 
shop,  a  church,  or  a  hotel.  After  traversing  this 
region  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  the  carriage 
stopped  in  the  stable  yard  of  an  inn,  and  the 
party  descended.  The  guide  was  going  to  show 
them  the  way  to  a  garden  where  they  could 
go  in. 

They  walked  along  some  way,  still  between 
lofty  walls,  with  branches  of  orange  and  lemon 
trees,  full  of  fruit,  seen  every  where  above  them, 
until  at  length  the  guide  stopped  before  a  massive 
gateway,  where  he  knocked  loud  and  long,  by 
means  of  an  ancient-looking  iron  knocker.    Pres- 


218  Rollo   in  Naples. 

The  party  enter  one  of  the  gardens.  Gathering  the  fruit. 

ently  a  man  came  down  a  sort  of  road,  which 
led  through  the  garden,  and  unlocking  the  gate, 
let  the  party  in. 

The  road  led  to  a  house  which  was  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  garden.  The  man  who  opened  the 
gate,  however,  knew  very  well  that  the  visitors 
came,  not  to  see  the  people  in  the  house,  but  to 
gather  and  eat  some  oranges.  So  he  led  the 
way  towards  the  part  of  the  garden  where  the 
fruit  was  the  most  abundant  and  the  sweetest. 
After  a  while  he  came  to  a  place  where  there 
was  a  seat.  The  party  took  their  places  on  this 
seat,  while  the  guide  brought  them  oranges  from 
the  neighboring  trees.* 

He  supplied  them  very  abundantly.  He 
brought  them  not  only  all  that  they  wanted  to 
eat,  but  gathered  also  a  large  number  in  clusters 
on  the  branches,  for  them  to  carry  to  the  carriage 
and  take  home. 

The  party  remained  in  this  garden  for  more 
than  an  hour,  and  then  giving  the  gardener  a 
small  piece  of  money,  —  the  guide  told  them 
how  much  it  was  proper  to  give,  —  they  went 
away.  They  rambled  about  some  time  longer  in 
Sorrento,  and  visited  the  brow  of  the  cliffs  which 
overhung  the  sea. 

*  See  Frontispiece. 


The   Orange   Gardens.  219 

Return  to  Naples.  Departure  for  Rome. 

At  length  they  went  back  to  the  carriage,  and 
set  out  on  their  return  to  Naples,  with  all  the 
vacant  spaces  in  the  carriage  filled  with  the  clus- 
ters of  oranges  which  they  had  gathered  in  the 
garden. 

The  next  day  after  this,  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
closed  their  visit  in  Naples,  and  set  out  in  the 
diligence  for  Rome. 


• 


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r 


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\  . 


